Boys’ volleyball: Bittersweet ending to strongest season in years

As the Falcons reached the end of their season in May, each of the players left the team with a new hope in the team’s strength. This hope came from a winning streak that the team held the whole season, broken only by two losses.

“The season was our first winning season in my four years of high school,” senior hitter Brandon Pak said. “It was a satisfying season, but also disappointing because we were so close [to CCS].”

The Falcons finished the season with a 10-2 league record, and were tied for first place in the El Camino league until a loss against Fremont on the team’s senior day on May 4. Their only other loss was against Eastside Prep on April 25.

The team will graduate 10 seniors, including key players like middle hitter Salmaan Javed and libero Alex Amato, so Pak believes that the team may struggle next year without them. Nevertheless, the Falcons only see the road of success continuing on.

“We moved down a league this year,” Pak said. “It was disappointing that we were so close to winning.”

Junior middle-back Erik Martin attributes much of the success of the team this year to the new coach, Daniel Lopez. 

“This year, we’ve done more technical things and worked on technique and mindset, which has really helped,” said Martin. 

Senior opposite hitter James Huang said the mentality of the team has allowed them to become a stronger team as well. 

“This year, I think we had the mentality that we were going to win every game, which has contributed to our success,” said Huang. “Last year, sometimes we felt intimidated and would not play as well as we could.”

Senior setter Paras Unadkat said the team this year was more close-knit than in previous years, allowing for better communication. 

“We’ve had a lot better team chemistry, and all of us care about winning this season,” Unadkat said. “We’re all pretty good friends on the team, so we’ve had really good teamwork this year.”