Boys’ volleyball brings the heat and beats Fremont

Amy Yu, Editor-in-Chief
April 11, 2019

Junior outside hitter Tyler Yen tosses the ball, preparing to serve it across the court to the Fremont Firebirds on Wednesday. According to Yen, the team had a rough start to the game because of the lack of practice over break, but managed to make comeback and win the game. “The game went pretty well,” Yen said. “We had a little trouble in the beginning, but we worked it out.” Photo: Amy Yu

Following a home victory against the Fremont Firebirds (6-9, 5-4) on Wednesday, the Palo Alto High School boys’ volleyball team (10-4, 6-1) is preparing for its game against Santa Clara High School (4-10, 1-5) on Friday.

This victory marks the team’s fifth in a row. Currently, the Vikings are second in the El Camino league and have a 85.7 percent of winning the league according to the Max Preps website.

The Vikings started off with strong serves, but struggled with some hits which ended up against the net or out of bounds. As the match progressed, the Vikings gained momentum and caught up to the Firebirds; however, Fremont managed to win the first set, 24-26.

Despite the initial loss, the Vikings started the second set with a strong offense to compensate for their slow start. During the set, the Vikings gained a four point lead and won the second set, 25-17. They brought this momentum into the next set, winning 25-22.

In the last set, the Vikings started off with a four point lead and maintained their lead until the very end. With strong serves from junior outside hitter Tyler Yen, and high blocks from junior middle blocker Abe Tow and senior outside hitter Raymon Chen, the Vikings were able to clinch the win, 25-21.

Chen said he attributes the rough start to having a week off for Spring Break.

“We’ve definitely played better, but it’s understandable,” Chen said. “Considering that [Spring Break], we played pretty well.”

Despite the loss in the first set, coach Ed Yeh said he believes the team played well and has improved since the start of the season.

“I don’t think we’re at our maximum yet, but we’re doing pretty well,” Yeh said. “We’re probably at 90 percent of where we would be. So we’re going to tune up what we didn’t do well, and try to do better on Friday.”

In March, the Vikings played against Wilcox High School in a tight game (19-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 11-15) which unfortunately ended in a loss, but the Vikings will play Wilcox again for their last game of the season.

In the meantime, the Vikings will play again against Santa Clara High School on Friday at 6:45 p.m. in Santa Clara.