Carlmont varsity boys volleyball swept the Sequoia Ravens in three sets at home during their last preseason game on Wednesday night. Even though the Scots managed to win each set, the Ravens were always close behind, leaving little room for error.
The first set looked promising for the Ravens, going up 4-0. That was until the Scots bench started to get fired up. Junior Erik Gordi played a key role in killing Sequoia’s momentum by spiking the ball straight into Raven territory. So far this season, not including against Sequoia, Gordi has racked up 9 kills. After a period of just being one or two points behind the Ravens, the Scots finally caught up, 21-21. From there, Carlmont took the lead, winning the first set 25-23.
“We were pretty hyped up. We had a game plan, and we went through with it,” Gordi said.
The first set win gave the Scots energy going into the second set. They quickly gained the lead this time, with the Ravens being the ones trailing closely behind. Sophomore captain Tyler Louie played an important part in the match, with his serve ending the set at 25-18. So far this season, Louie has 24 assists, averaging eight assists per set.
“A key factor that helps this team is everybody cheering and being all together,” Louie said.
The third and final set consisted of many rallies, displaying both teams’ passion to win. In one of the rallies, Carlmont libero Orion Gurskis barely got his hand under the ball, keeping the play alive. The Scots later got the point. The match ended after Sequoia served the ball into the net, finishing the set 25-21. This gave the Scots the third win in the best-of-five match.
“This is the best team Sequoia has brought out against us. It’s good to see the growth of the sport over all the schools. They got a good outside hitter who obviously led their team today, but I think overall, our depth is really strong, and we worked on defense all week, so we were prepared to handle it,” said head coach Dan Nelson.
Last year, out of its 17-person roster, Carlmont’s team consisted of 12 seniors. This season there are only four seniors, forcing the team to rely on younger players.
“We have a ton of sophomores. As far as the roster, we have 16 people. Overall, we have some good depth, and there’s a lot of youth. They’re trying to learn how to gel together. It’s going to be pretty good over the next couple of years as they do that,” Nelson said.
The Scots are looking forward to the season, with their first league game against Mills on March 14 at home.
“We’re establishing our system, and I really think that we can go to CCS with this team,” Gordi said.
Design by Isabella Wilson
