Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

Photo from paly.softball.varsity on instagram.
Paly softball defeats Santa Clara 9-8
Amanda Goody, Staff Writer • March 27, 2024
Hannah Oh (27) takes a breath
Paly Girls Swim and Dive beat Los Altos High School on Senior Night
Ethan Wang, Staff Writer • March 27, 2024
Beyond the Mirror
Beyond the Mirror
Eliza Gaither, Katie Yen, and Sarah ThiemanMarch 27, 2024

Volleyball snaps Gunn’s win streak, clinches share of league title

Becca Raffel (14) returns the ball.  Raffel had 10 kills on the night.
Scotty Bara
Becca Raffel (’14) returns the ball. Raffel had 10 kills on the night.

The Palo Alto High School volleyball team swept Gunn on Senior Night.  The Vikings won 25-17, 25-19 and 25-18 to end the Titans’ five game win streak and bring the Vikes to a 12-2 league record.

Gunn struck first by jumping out to an early 5-1 lead.  The Vikings trailed the Titans but an offensive surge pulled them even at six.  Kills by outside hitter Becca Raffel (’14) kept the game close.  After a kill by middle blocker Lauren Kerr (’14) the Vikings trailed 11-7.  Once again Paly tied it up at 15 after a kill by Raffel.  Multiple errors proved to be costly as both teams struggled to get the ball over the net.  Another four kills by Raffel led the Vikings to a 10-2 streak as they finished the set 25-17.

The second set started with Gunn taking a quick lead at 5-3.  Paly soon took the lead 8-5, its first lead of the set.  The Vikings continued to trade serves with the Titans as they closed the gap.  Sophia Bono (’13) gave Paly the lead 15-13.  Three kills by Raffel and outside hitter Shelby Knowles (’13) and mistakes on the part of Gunn brought in a steady stream of points for the Vikings, ending the second set with a 25-19 win.

Again the third set started close as the teams kept it to five points each.  An out of bounds ball by Gunn and a block by Anna Dukovic (’15) brought Paly in front 8-5 towards the middle of the set.  Three consecutive points by the Titans tied the game up at eight.  After a tough back and forth battle Paly pulled into the lead thanks to a kill by Raffel and back-to-back mistakes by Gunn, giving the Vikings a 17-11 advantage.  Since Paly touched the net twice the Titans were able to cut the Paly lead down to one.  Paly won the set 25-18 after a 7-1 streak.

Looking at the team’s performance coach David Winn believed that the Vikes gave Gunn a hard match.

“We really just focused on our side of the net tonight,” Winn said. “Our servicing was good, our passing was good, our communication was good and we knew if we did that we would definitely be in the match.  We put a lot of pressure on Gunn to perform and I think we did really well.”

Raffel, who had 10 kills on the night, repeated Winn’s thoughts.

“We played really solidly throughout the match,” Raffel said. “Instead of worrying about beating the other team we just focused on our own side, which we didn’t do against Los Gatos.”

After the win tonight, the Vikings ended the regular season first in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and the Central Coast Section.  The first game of the playoffs will occur this weekend.

Leave a Comment
About the Contributors
Colin Patterson, News Editor
Colin Patterson is a senior who joined staff last spring at the beginning of second semester.  When not in school Patterson likes playing sports with friends, going on trips and watching the New York Knicks.  He has two cats named Heather and Kent, two dogs named Honey and Lily, and a tortoise named Tort.
James Harrison, Staff Writer
James joined The Viking staff this year as a junior at Palo Alto High School. He plays varsity lacrosse and in his time likes to play other sports with his friends.
Scotty Bara, Photo Editor
Scotty Bara is a senior at Paly. He likes anything to do with sports.

Comments (0)

All The Viking Magazine Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *