In a match led by strong outside hitters, the Palo Alto High School boys volleyball team (13-8) fell 1-3 against the Wilcox High School Chargers (7-7) Wednesday night at home.
The Vikings’ loss — their second league loss in the SCVAL El Camino League dropped Paly to 2nd place behind Los Altos High School.
The first set was neck and neck from start until finish. Unfortunately, for the Vikings, the Chargers went on a run, scoring five consecutive points, and won the first set, 19-25.
Charger head coach Tiffany Anderson said the Chargers relied on their outside hitters.
“We have some pretty strong outside hitters, Nos. 9 and 10 [Oaj Saini and Tobin Ley], who were really strong today,” Anderson said. “Once we got the pattern going toward the outside, we were able to then take care of the middle.”
The second set was another nail-biter. The Chargers took a late three-point lead, 15-18. The Vikings then went on a run, scoring six points in a row to complete the comeback and win the second set, 25-19.
According to Resmini, the Vikings changed their their strategy during the game.
“We switched to double-blocking on No. 10 [Tobin Ley], who was just cooking us up on the outside,” Resmini said. “We tried to execute on that, but we couldn’t really stop him.”
The third set was dominated by the Chargers, led by senior Oaj Saini, who delivered powerful strikes, dominating the Vikings’ defense. The Chargers won the set 18-25.
Viking coach Johnson Hipona said serving was a weakness for the Vikings.
“On our serves, one would go over and one would go into the net,” Hipona said. “It was constantly like that, so it was kind of back and forth.”
The fourth set was similar to the first two, with a back-and-forth sequence occurring throughout the entirety of the set. However, after coughing up a six point lead, the Chargers took back control over the game and defeated the Vikings in the final set, 25-20.
The Vikings will play the Los Altos High School Eagles (17-4) at 6:45 p.m. April 17th at Los Altos High School.
