Carlmont’s boys JV volleyball team continued their winning streak by defeating the Burlingame Panthers in two quick sets.
Carlmont has been working hard in practice, which has been paying off. They have earned and held up their No. 1 spot in the league, with this being their ninth consecutive win. They are also the sixth best JV team in the Central Coast Section.
“They practice really hard; the practices themselves are hard. When we execute, we do good,” said head coach Andy Serrano. “I coach very basic volleyball.”
In the first set, the Scots maintained their lead throughout the whole set. They lost many points due to misserves and balls being out of play.
Despite some misserves, many players could make several serves in a row. One of the players is freshman Alan Fadeyev.
This is Fadeyev’s first year playing on the volleyball team. Fadeyev also plays club volleyball; he notes that high school volleyball is very different.
Many of the players are new to Carlmont as well. They are all getting used to volleyball at Carlmont and playing volleyball with each other.
“When looking at the start of the season, we were all playing individually. You could tell that there were definitely areas to grow,” said freshman Nolan Wong.
However, as the season progresses, Wong and his teammates agree that the team has begun to mesh well. With every week spent together, they become more familiar and comfortable with each other. They build trust, which is an essential part of any team.
“Games and practices bring us together as a team, that gets us to be more successful on the court,” Wong said. “We compliment each other and cheer for each other. There is a lot of energy between the team.”
Carlmont lost their balance during the second set, and Burlingame started to get ahead. Many of Burlingame’s points were balls spiked out of bounds by Carlmont.
“Sometimes the energy kind of drops, and we lose some points, like in the game we just had. But most of the time, we are very strong,” said sophomore Mateus Duval.
Halfway through the second set, Carlmont regained their momentum and started coming back. The set ended in a 25-22 win for Carlmont.
Their successful season gives the team confidence in completing their goals, which is finishing in first place in the league. Even though they all want to win, having fun is the most important thing.
“I want them to take away confidence and competence in everything they do. They are really learning how to play with one another and actually having fun,” Serrano said.
