The boys volleyball team shut down the Santa Clara Bruins in four sets, 25-22, 25-6, 22-25, and 25-21, on Friday evening.
The Bears started off aggressive at the net, earning the first points through a joust and back-to-back blocks by junior middle blocker Ryan Cunningham. The Bruins attempted to strike back, but numerous hitting errors kept M-A on top, 8-1.
Senior outside hitter Ben Warner* continued the momentum with a powerful kill, but Santa Clara refused to roll over. The Bruins found their rhythm, and their fast-tempo offense forced M-A into undisciplined blocks and unforced errors, allowing Santa Clara to take a 12-10 lead.
Senior outside hitter Owen Rutsky ended the scoring drought with an impressive attack down the line, and a series of smart shots followed by a strategic tip from Warner restored the Bears’ advantage and raised the score to a competitive 16-15.
Long rallies characterized the next few points, as both teams fought to finish the first set on top. Warner managed a kill, but Santa Clara bounced right back with one of their own and capitalized on M-A mistakes to pull ahead 22-20.
Fixated on shutting out the set, Rutsky delivered a decisive swing, and senior opposite hitter Quinn Robbins continued with an ace to bring the Bears to set point. On the final rally, Robbins laid out a remarkable dig to extend the play, before Rutsky finished it off with a perfectly placed tip to claim the first set, 25-22.
“I think since we have a new team, it’s been hard to establish a lot of talking, just because there’s new personalities. So I think we did well with them,” sophomore libero Nicolas Sandoval said.
Determined to finish off the second set more decisively, the Bears came out firing shot after shot. Defensively, Sandoval and senior defensive specialist Jaden Clark were relentless, digging almost every ball and keeping rallies alive.
Rutsky and Warner hammered multiple kills to give M-A an early 9-3 lead. Despite a few unforced errors due to miscommunication, the Bears maintained control of the game as the set progressed. Junior setter Coen Chou played a key role in M-A’s offense, securing convincing points with an untouched setter dump that put the Bears up 11-4, along with several important blocks.
The Bruins attempted to scrape together any points they could, but their desperation caused them to miss serves and gave more opportunities for the Bears to score. Clark was unstoppable from the service line, serving 12 points in a row, all the while junior middle blocker Julian Haddaway shut down Santa Clara’s offense, delivering back-to-back stuff blocks.
Clark’s serving, along with countless kills by Warner and blocks from Chou and senior middle blocker James Anderson, brought the Bears to set point, 24-5. Warner then finished it off with a final kill to win the second set 25-6.
Hoping to finish off the game in three sets, the Bears kicked off the third set strong. However, missed swings and messy defense allowed the teams to stay neck-and-neck, leaving M-A down just 12-10.
However, back-to-back unforced errors by M-A shifted the momentum to the Bruins, allowing them to pull away 14-10. A well-timed attack by Rutsky and a powerful block by Robbins kept the Bears in the game. Even so, Santa Clara remained in control, building a 17-13 advantage.
M-A battled back, cleaning up their errors and finding spots on the court to score, but remained just behind the Bruins. A sharp swing from Warner, who later followed with an ace, pushed the Bears to within two points, 23-21. Unfortunately, M-A was unable to convert, and Santa Clara took the third set 25-22.
“I thought we did a good job of just keeping our energy up and keeping a positive attitude, even though we dropped the third set when we really didn’t want to, we wanted to end it in three, but I think we rebounded well and we were resilient,” Robbins said.
Determined not to drop another set to Santa Clara, the Bears got to a quick start. Sandoval made an incredible diving save to extend the rally, allowing Warner to score with a well-executed tip to the middle of the court. Soon later, Chou and Cunningham shut down the Bruins with a monster block, and Warner continued with an aggressive swing to give M-A an early 6-1 lead.
Despite their advantage, the Bears started to let up, allowing clumsy net violations and getting tooled by the Santa Clara offense. After a long rally, Haddaway and Robbins finished the play with a stuff block to maintain M-A’s lead 9-5. The Bruins stayed strong, and after a series of plays, they managed to decrease their deficit to just one point, 12-11.
Both teams continued to battle, trading points with neither able to pull away. After the Bruins scored back-to-back points, a smart high hands tool by Rutsky brought M-A up 19-17.
The Bears’ offense finally took control of the set, and multiple open-net kills by Warner, and an ace on the final point by Cunningham sealed the deal, winning the fourth set 25-21.
“We had a tough loss yesterday, so it’s good to rebound with this win, but we are gonna have to play better. I like where our attitude, our energy is, but we need to be more consistent to beat more teams,” Robbins said.
“I think we’re just gonna remember how important it is to serve strong and start off the gate like how we did in the second set, so that we can carry that forward and not have to go to four sets—that feels a little bit unnecessary,” Sandoval said.
Next up, the Bears will face the Washington Huskies at home on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
*Ben Warner is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
