The Carlmont Scots defeated the Sequoia Ravens 3-1 on Thursday, Oct. 24th in their 13th league game of the season.
The Scots started the match slowly but quickly made up for lost time in the first set, which was full of lead changes. The back-and-forth runs kept the Scots on their toes, and eventually, the Ravens couldn’t keep up with the energy and grit of the Scots.
“Overall, we executed really well, and I think that we were able to play consistently and we had a lot of energy,” said sophomore Olivia Luey.
Luey was a huge part of the Scots’ success by returning the strong Sequoia serves and hits, and setting up her teammates for success by providing perfect passes for her outside hitters.
“We knew that they would hit really well, and they were able to hit a bunch of different spots. That was something that we had to adjust to, but we were able to push through,” Luey said.
The second set was more in favor of the Scots. They started hitting the open holes and communicating well, which led to them to build a quick advantage.
“We really improved on our communication and talked for every ball,” said junior Brooke Toomasson.
The Ravens attempted a comeback on multiple occasions but despite their efforts, they fell short. The Scots bench kept the energy high throughout the set, propelling them to a second-set win.
“We just had fun playing, the energy was high and that kept us motivated throughout the game,” Toomasson said.
The energy dipped for the Scots at the beginning of the third set, while on the other side of the net, the Ravens kept the ball moving and attacked holes in the Scots defense. Thanks to a number of unforced errors from the Scots, the Ravens eventually scratched out a third-set win.
“We did great even in the set that we lost. It was very close and we just needed that little extra push at the end,” said senior Calico Przybyszewski.
In the fourth and final set of the evening, the Scots found their groove and jumped to an early lead. Throughout the set, they capitalized on Ravens’ errors and kept the ball away from the hosts’ top players. Junior Athena Chui led the fourth set dominance with multiple aces, pushing the Scots to a 25-10 win in the fourth set.
The Scots will play their final home match of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 29th against the Woodside Wildcats. After that, they will be focused on the Central Coast Section playoffs, where they are looking to improve on their performance from last year.
A key to the Scots’ victory was their preparation for the match. Their film sessions proved to be important because they capitalized on scouted plays and caught the Ravens off guard.
“We prepared by watching a lot of film and using the advice that our coach was giving to us during practice. We were able to pick up a lot of the balls that they put on our court,” Luey said.
The Scots won the important plays throughout the game which helped bring out the team’s strengths.
“Just winning the really long rallies because that’s when we really flourish as a team,” Przbyszewski said.
The win improves the Scots to an 8-4 record for the season. They currently sit in fourth place in the Peninsula Athletic League standings behind the Aragon Dons and eighth in Division I of the CCS behind Salinas.
