Boys volleyball defeats San Mateo in three sets

On April 25, the boys volleyball team (19-7) beat San Mateo (0-10) in its senior game, where large five-point serving streaks led by seniors Miguel Hugo and Manuel Abundis Morales helped secure a three-set victory for the Dons.

“It’s overwhelming playing for the last time,” Hugo said. “I didn’t really feel it during the game, you know, all four years I’ve been playing here. … it’s a lot for me “

Throughout the match, senior outside and opposite hitter Theo Hargis spearheaded the Dons’ offense, hitting 11 kills. However, during the contest, other seniors were able to have the opportunity to spike as well, with senior middle blocker Mason Chen, who had started volleyball his senior year, receiving multiple sets from sophomore setter Albert Hao.

“Being a senior, I got a lot of playing time and got more chances to get kills,” Chen said.

However, issues were seen on defense, with the Bearcats scoring 21 points in the final set.

“We need to improve on our defense,” Hugo said. “It’s not bad but we could have done better and kept more points that way so that’s something we definitely plan on working on.”

Sophomore opposite hitter and middle blocker Aiden Peschke felt that familiarity with the Bearcats factored into his performance.

“I was coached by both the SMHS and AHS coach,” he said, “so that really stepped up my game and led me to get so many blocks and I was a little rusty as I normally don’t play middle.”

This match was the final game for the seniors, which helped draw a big attendance for the Dons.

“It was great to see all the seniors playing for the last time and having their families come out and it get the players more motivated to perform better,” Peschke said. “It also gets the crowd more enthusiastic”

The Dons are set to play South City (3-16) in an away game on May 2.