The boys volleyball team lost to the Carlmont Scots in four sets: 23-25, 26-28, 25-22, and 20-25 in the first round of CCS to conclude their season on Tuesday night.
The Bears came out strong in the first set with powerful kills by junior outside hitter Ben Warner and senior setter Peter Chriss to put the Bears up 5-1. Utilizing their momentum, the Bears managed to maintain a lead for most of the set.
Despite this, the Scots were able to chip away from the Bears’ early lead by getting a couple of kills of their own. After facing offensive difficulty due to the Scots’ towering block, the Bears found themselves down 20-16 and in need of a timeout to slow the game down.
Unable to recuperate, M-A went on to lose the set with a tight score of 25-23.
Heading into the second set, the Scots continued to control the game, building a sizable lead of 15-9, thanks to a handful of strong kills and blocks. The Bears kept getting called for sloppy errors, giving the Scots free points, and adding to M-A’s frustration.
“We started really bad. And it’s hard to come back from that,” Senior middle blocker Luis Licea said.
Desperate to find their way back into the game, senior opposite Jonny Kerr, Warner, and Chriss took matters into their own hands by hitting multiple kills, forcing the Scots to call their first timeout to regather.
The Bears were able to take the lead due to a diving save by freshman libero Nick Sandoval to Chriss, who then shot a set over to Kerr, and finished the play by smashing the ball past the Scots’ defense, with a 17-14 lead.
M-A continued to add more to their lead. Chriss’ soft touch over the leaping Scots defenders had the Bears up 26-25, needing only one more point to even the set score. But, Carlmont stayed resilient and tied the score with a lethal kill, followed by a block that gave them the lead. The Scots put an end to the set with a kill directly between the Bears’ defense, winning 28-26.
Nevertheless, M-A refused to give up. Managing to build an early lead again, 12-8, they had all the momentum. Warner and Kerr continued to dominate, tipping the ball over the defenders, finding holes in the defense, and blocking.
The Bears were able to win the third set 25-22, after an attack error by Carlmont, boosting the Bears confidence heading into the next set.
Beginning the fourth set, the Scots had the early lead, 9-5, trying to bounce back from the last set. However, multiple Carlmont service and attack errors helped the Bears stay in the game.
After the Bears tied up the game, Carlmont made a circus-style play to quickly take back the lead. Because of this, the Bears momentum was killed, and the Scots were playing at their best and took off with the game.
M-A was forced to call a timeout when they were down 23-18. The Scots tried to end the game, but the Bears wouldn’t go down without a fight. Chriss and Warner both got a kill, but it was too late, falling 24-20. On the next play, the Scots cracked the ball toward the middle of the court, giving the Scots the win, 25-20.
“The worst part is realizing, tomorrow, I’m not going to be at practice,” Sandoval said.
“I’ve built a close connection with this team. It’s hard to go down like this,” Kerr said.
This game concludes the season for the Bears.
