Chloe Heinz
“That was probably the most hyped and important game,” senior Peter Santiago said of the boys volleyball win against Torrey Pines last Tuesday. MC took the match in a close fifth game.
“We were up 13 to 4 in the fifth set, and then they came back and it was 13-11,” Santiago said.
Claiming this win was no small feat, and the intensity that the players displayed was apparent.
“Torrey Pines is ranked number one in the county, so it was pretty big to beat them,” senior Matt Younggren said. “On the Prep Pigskin Report, they showed some highlights from our game of me and Vildibill.
Still pumped up from the victory, which was mentioned in the Union tribune, the boys are using this spirit to fuel them for many matches to come.
“The Torrey Pines game set the pace for us for the rest of the season,” Santiago said.
Last Saturday, the boys’ original coach, Gurt, came back after a brief suspension and coached the team to the championship finals at their Valhalla tournament, the first time the team was reunited since he left.
“I think it gave an energy boost to get Coach Gurt back after he was gone,” Younggren said.
The team has already started to see the benefit from playing under Gurt’s coaching again.
“It brought up team morale, so now we’re all working together. He knows how to coach us so it’s going to help us out a lot,” Santiago said.
In the absence of their coach, the team had still managed to show a great deal of growth, which will only continue henceforth.
“We’ve improved a lot since Gurt last saw us, mostly with our ball control,” Santiago said. “Before, since we knew we were good, we would go into games thinking we would easily beat the teams. But after playing a lot of hard teams and having Mike Bird and Christine help us a lot, we were shown that we’re not going to be the best team if we don’t try. Gurt sees that and he sees a lot of improvement in keeping to ourselves and playing our game.”
With this new mindset, the team enters each match like it’s a clean slate and a time to prove themselves again.
“We don’t really care about our records, as long as we get the win at the end of the game,” Santiago said.
The team is having a solid season so far, packed with wins and great plays.
“I think we’re 16 and 3, and we’re undefeated in league, so we’re hoping to win league,” Younggren said.
All of the obstacles thrown at them this season didn’t stop the team from playing well together and earning an impressive reputation.
“We have persevered despite all of the adversity that we’ve gone through,” Santiago said.
