Campolindo Boys Varsity Volleyball faced Acalanes for the second time on March 23 in the Don’s territory. The Cougars came out on top: winning the first 3 sets, giving the Dons 0.

One vital factor that contributed to Campo beating Acalanes was their serving. Junior Graham Volk, an outside hitter, said, “I think our serving was really great. [Senior] Andrew Pak had a really great game surviving and got a lot of aces.”

Pak, setter for the team, went on serving runs almost every time it was his turn to serve. His serves were extremely flat over the net and had the ball moving fast. This made it hard for the Dons to receive his serve and they constantly were shanking the ball. These great serves helped the Cougs secure the win of the first set, with a score of 25-18.

During the second set Campo had a little more trouble. Players began to get ahead of themselves and began hitting all over the place.

Junior Will Marusich, an outside hitter, said, “We could’ve been more selective with our hitting. We were swinging wild.” As a result of players swinging wildly, many balls in the second set ended up being wide or going out, giving Acalanes free points.

Further into the second set, when the Cougs were at 20 points, they hit a ‘block’. They struggled to serve well, pass well, and even hit well. This allowed Acalanes to catch up and surpass Campo. Even though the Cougars struggled during the second set, they were still able to come out on top, ending the second set 4 points in front of the Dons with a score of 25-21.

During the third set Campo players continued to serve well, but they were not able to beat Acalanes as quickly as in the first set. One thing the team excelled at in this set was defense. Front-row players were blocking well and preventing the Dons from getting good hits over the net.

In addition to the efficient blocking, back-row players also did a great job covering and receiving hits. When the ball bounced off a player’s hands during a block, another player was instantly there and helping out. Players were diving all over the floor, helping out wherever they could. This cooperation of the team allowed them to win the third set 25-19, ultimately winning the entire game for Campo.

While the score (3-0) indicates that Campo easily won the game, this is not the outcome that players were expecting. When asked if it was an expected win, Volk said, “I think we definitely expected it to be tougher. They definitely had a rough game, so it was a lot easier than we thought. They’re a pretty solid team so we should be evenly matched.”

Similarly to Volk, Marusich said, “I think we went into the game overestimating their team, which is good because we over prepared for it. It ended up being not that challenging.”

Cougars went into the match expecting it to be more difficult, but a 3-0 win does not reflect this worry. The two teams are scheduled to play each other again on April 20 at Campolindo.