During a night of intense action on the court, Paly’s volleyball team pummeled the Homestead High School Mustangs, 3-0, in a home game on Oct. 6 in Paly’s big gym.
“We had a lot more offense and we executed,” head coach Dave Winn said. “When we execute and play a strong offense, there are few things that can stop us.”
According to Winn, the opposing team’s performance also helped influence the outcome of the game.
“We were expecting them [Homestead] to play a lot better.” Winn said. “They just didn’t play their best tonight.”
Homestead’s head coach Matt Hoffman felt that overall, the Mustangs could have performed better in the game and that they did not play their best.
“The way we played tonight is not representative of our team,” Hoffman said. “They [Paly] were good, but I’ve seen better teams in the past.”
Despite losing their first point to the Mustangs, the Vikings caught up quickly and kept a consistent lead throughout the game, leading to a 25-12 victory in the first game.
“We improved a lot from our last game,” sophomore Kimmie Whitson said. “We did well with keeping up with a not-so-strong team.”
The Vikings continued with their strong teamwork for during their next game, consistently hitting perfect serves over the net to prevent the other team from scoring. Keeping this strategy was beneficial for the Vikings, who secured another victory in the second game, 25-14.
The Vikings faced off in the determining match, but unlike the previous games, the Vikings were not as consistent with their playing. They fought a close match against the Mustangs, finally earning a 25-16 victory.
Although the game was a success for the Vikings, there are still many things that needed to be improved, according to Whitson.
“Our biggest flaw was serving errors,” Whitson said. “We just need to work on being more consistent and communicate better on the court.”
Juniors Trina Ohms and Megan Coleman felt the same way, and hope to see Paly improve in future games.
“There were definitely a lot of things to work on,” Coleman said. “But overall, we played very well.”
Ohms is proud of the Vikings, especially considering the challenges faced by the Vikings playing in the De Anza league.
“A ‘W’ is always better than an ‘L’ in this league, no matter how you get it,” Ohms said. “In the end, a win is a win.”
The Vikings will face the Los Gatos Wildcats at 6:45 p.m on Oct. 8 at Los Gatos. Their next home game will be against the Los Altos Eagles at 6:45 p.m on Oct. 14 in Paly’s big gym.