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

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Paly Volleyball Defeats Los Gatos in Three Games

In a long contested league rivalry, the Palo Alto Varsity Volleyball team defeated the visiting Los Gatos Wildcats in three games, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 during their third league match. Assistant coach Andrew Lin noted that the team’s defense and height advantage enabled Paly to emerge victorious in each game of the match.

“We focused on our defense a bit more, so we got more digs. We have some good players and we have a little bit of a height advantage. Between that and our digging we were able to eek out a win,” Lin said.

The game commenced with an offbeat serve from the Wildcats, but the Lady Vikes kept pace with good communication and flexibility. The score stayed close and Paly came up from behind after being down 3-1 due to kills from Melanie Wade (’12) and co captain Maddie Kuppe (’12). Setter and co captain Kimmy Whitson (’12) also earned an ace for the Vikings as well as a surprise kill on the second hit of a rally. The score was 9-5 in Paly’s favor, and Paly maintained a consistent four point lead due to missed serves by Los Gatos and key blocks from Becca Raffel (’14) and Caroline Martin (’12). Though  Taylor Nitzler (’12) and (#13) of the Wildcats seemed to foreshadow a comeback, digs from Martin and Keri Gee (’14) kept the Vikings on top 18-17. A few breakdowns in the Viking defense brought the game close with a score of 21-20, but kills from both Kuppe and Wade ended with a 25-21 win for the Vikings, 1-0 in the match.

 

GAME 2

 

In the second game, Paly started off strong with a 2-0 lead before Los Gatos evened the score off a couple missed Paly blocks. The score went back and forth between missed blocks and solid kills on both sides before the Wildcats broke the tie, going up 8-6with a kill and a missed kill from Kuppe. Paly, however, returned with back-to-back points, racking up a missed Wildcat block and kills by both Kuppe and Martin. With a 9-8 score, the Wildcats tied it once again with a hovering tip. Neither team could get more than one point advantage between the lengthy rallies until Paly puled ahead 14-10. Crucial ball placement by setter Kimmy Whitson (’12) and digs by Martin and libero Tiffany Tsung (’12) pu the ikins back on top. Though Los Gatos made a brief comeback with kills from (#6) and (#13), serves by Whitson and Wade kept the Vikings in the lead. The game ended 25-16 in the Viking’s favor.

Back-to-back Viking kills from Kuppe and Martin started off game three, but the Wildcats were quick to respond with a kill and an ace, tying it up 2-2. (#12) stuffed a kill over two Paly defenders, but the Lady Vikes earned a 7-5 lead due to digs from Martin and kills from Raffel, Wade and Kuppe. Despite Wildcat kills, Paly maintained their two point lead until kills by (#13) tied up the game once again.

Following a Palo Alto timeout, Kuppe and Wade turned up the heat on the offensive end, earning numerous kills and increasing the Lady Vikes’ lead over the Wildcats 14-11. Good defense by both Jackie Koenig (’12) and Wade also helped out the Vikings, until Paly briefly lost momentum with a few out-of-bounds blocks and kills. The score stood 19-15 in Paly’s favor, incrasing to 22-16 after solid Viking hitting. Despite the Wildcat’s efforts at a comeback, Paly held strong and finished the game, 25-22.

The win was the result of a combination of Paly’s new focused mindset following the St. Francis game and the fact that the Wildcats had lost many started with the class of 2011, according to Whitson.

“They lost some of their starting seniors and they did a good job,” Whitson said. “We came out with a lot of focus.”

The Wildcats’ rebound in the third game, however, didn’t surprise Lin.

“The sets were all pretty close, and Los Gatos is a good team,” he said. “They play good defense and they hit well.”

 

The Lady Vikes will travel to Los Altos High School on Tuesday Night for their next league match.

 

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