Varsity boys’ volleyball defeats Los Gatos in four sets

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Megan Cardosi

Jonathan Schwartz (12) jump serves the ball. Jonathan played the positions of setter and opposite, or right-side, hitter.

by Megan Cardosi, TALON Sports Editor

Varsity boys’ volleyball defeated Los Gatos High School in 4 sets on Friday at the Blackford gym, bringing them to an overall of 7-2 record.

Los Gatos began serving during the first set, earning a 5 point lead. Harker eventually brought the game to a tie before winning the set on an ace serve 25-23.

“We played pretty well the first game,” Charlie Molin (10) said. “We started off a little slow, and then I think we just didn’t keep playing as hard as we could, and that’s why they were able to beat us in the second game, but I think we really came together as a team and were able to finish it the next couple of games.”

The Los Gatos Wildcats came back to win the second set 25-22.

During the third set, the coaches switched Jeffrey Kwan (9) from libero to outside hitter and Chris Gong (10) from outside hitter to libero. In volleyball, the libero plays defense in the back row for both middle blockers. Harker kept a steady two-point lead during this set from 2-0 to 20-18 before pulling ahead and winning the set 25-19.

The fourth set had close scores throughout, from 7-7 to 13-13. Harker slowly began earning a lead. The last points went back and forth between the two teams. Andrew Gu (12) got a cross-court kill, bringing the team to match point. The next point, Ray Song (12) blocked the opposing team, and the Eagles won the game 25-21.

“I think it was definitely a great team effort,” Jimmy Lin (11) said. “While we got to a bit of a rough start in the beginning, we definitely found a rhythm toward the latter sets, and that helped us pull through to get the win.”

The team’s next game is on Wednesday, Mar. 22 at Homestead High School.