The boys volleyball team was victorious against the El Camino Colts in a three-set sweep: 25-9, 25-11, and 25-22 on Tuesday night in their first game of the season.
The Colts started strong, securing the first point of the game. However, the Bears retaliated as senior outside hitter Ben Warner* delivered a powerful spike, putting M-A on the board. Following Warner’s trend, sophomore libero Nicolas Sandoval carried the Bears to even greater triumph with a succession of serves, helping M-A build an impressive 9-1 lead.
Although El Camino put a stop to the momentum with a point off a serve, the Bears roared back, as junior middle blocker Ryan Cunningham earned another point from a tactical tip.
M-A continued to showcase their offensive masterclass with junior setter Coen Chou slamming a fierce spike, and numerous serving and passing errors from the Colts made way for the Bears to extend their lead to 14-6.
“I think we mainly need to work on passing and getting the ball to our setter,” senior outside hitter Owen Rustky said. “If we can do that a little better, I think we will be much better off.”
The Bears’ defense remained impenetrable thanks to junior middle blocker Jullian Haddaway’s impressive blocks, but even so, the team’s coordination was thrown off as they fumbled the next ball. Subsequently, Chou helped the Bears bounce back with a setter dump that caught the Colts’ defense off guard, bringing the tally to 16-7.
“In my opinion, what we did best was our offense and energy. We were very offensive and high energy the whole game, which kept us going,” Rustky said.
M-A’s defensive line stayed on high alert, and quick dives from Sandoval kept the ball alive to ultimately secure the winning point and end the first set in favor of the Bears, 25-9.
The Bears continued their run to start the second set, maintaining a sizable lead and gaining control after Chou set Warner up for a spike. Despite a few passing errors, M-A’s defense was excellent, preventing the Colts from gaining any momentum and pushing the score to 14-4.
This dominance carried on for the remainder of the set, and the Bears earned a point from a monster block after an explosive rally to end the second set with a score of 25-11.
Kicking the third set off in a frenzy, senior defensive specialist Jaden Clark massacred the Colts with a series of well-placed serves, giving the Bears a quick 3-0 lead. Warner was on fire, repeatedly executing powerful spikes. He delivered the spike of the night, set by Chou, to put the Bears up 6-1.
However, as the set proceeded, M-A’s lead began to waver. A fast spike slipped through the Bears’ defensive wall, and soon it was clear that El Camino was making a comeback. In a surprising turn of events, the Colts surged back into the game as a powerful strike leveled the score at 10-10.
While M-A fought back, the score stayed neck-and-neck at 15-15, with both teams trading defensive errors.
A series of missed hits from El Camino gave the Bears an upper hand, setting Warner up to spike to put M-A back in the lead.
After countless saves and long rallies, M-A won the match point as the Colts served out of bounds, with a final score of 25-22.
“I feel like our first game went really well, we won in 3 sets, which is always good,” Chou said. “I think the whole team played well. Everybody got a chance to go in, and everybody was doing their part.”
“For our next game, I want to make sure I’m staying high energy and keeping us all hyped up the whole game, regardless of how it goes,” Rustky said.
The Bears will face the California Grizzlies next at home on Thursday at 5:45 p.m.
*Ben Warner is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
