After some down years, the Los Altos High boys volleyball team seems to be trending upward.
Building off last year’s 17-12 campaign – the Eagles’ first winning season since 2016 – the squad is off to a 12-4 start.
Los Altos coach Peter Kim expects that success to continue well into the spring.
“We should vie for the league title, and I think we’ll do pretty well in the CCS playoffs,” he said. “The goal is to get to NorCal and do some damage there.”
The Eagles last year went as far as the Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinals, where Serra swept them. All but one starter has returned from that Los Altos team, which placed third in the SCVAL El Camino Division.
The Eagles are dominating the division this year. They improved to 4-0 with Friday’s four-set home win over Los Gatos.
A league title could lead to a promotion to the De Anza Division next year, which Kim would like to see. Los Altos last played in the SCVAL’s top division in 2019.
“I would vote to move up,” he said.
That may be the only way the Eagles will get to play district rival Mountain View, the defending De Anza Division champion. The teams haven’t faced off in four years.
“I wish we did,” said Kim, adding that the Spartans haven’t shown much interest in scheduling a non-league match against Los Altos. “It would be nice.”
While the Eagles still might not be at Mountain View’s level, they seem to be narrowing the gap. Kim, who took over the program in 2020, said this is the best team he’s had.
“We have a lot of talent, good size and we’re getting better,” he said.
Ninety percent of the team plays club volleyball, Kim noted. The roster of 13 includes eight players who stand at least 6 feet tall.
Outside hitter Aidan Cuppett, a 6-foot-4 junior, tops the team in kills and ranks second in aces and digs.
“He’s probably our most explosive player,” Kim said of the team captain, who led Los Altos with 257 kills last year. “He has an opportunity to play at the next level.”
Most of Cuppett’s kills come off sets from senior and fellow captain Ethan Choe. Kim has been impressed with Choe’s transition from outside hitter to setter, which happened last season.
“He’s getting a lot better,” the coach said. “He’s a good leader, he puts up good balls for the hitters and he has good hands.”
Sam Cousins, also a returning starter, “is another big presence out on the court,” according to Kim. The 6-foot-7 junior is second to Cuppett in kills.
Ben Freda-Eskenazi is the only Eagle with more blocks than Cousins. A 6-foot-6 middle blocker, junior Freda-Eskenazi is a first-year starter.
“He’s very coachable, has a good personality and is a good team player,” Kim said. “He’s getting there.”
Fellow middle blocker Tyler Cairns, a 6-foot-5 senior, “is so much better than last year,” the coach said. “The game has slowed down a lot more for him.”
Another senior, 6-foot-3 Zachary Schuder, is perhaps Los Altos’ most versatile player.
“He’s played a lot of positions,” Kim said of Schuder, listed as an outside hitter. “We can put him anywhere and he can perform really well.”
Lukas Cieluiko serves as the Eagles’ libero. The sophomore leads the team in digs.
“It’s a new position for him,” Kim said, adding that Cieluiko was the setter on the frosh-soph squad last season. “Every match he’s getting better. He’s been a pleasant surprise.”
While Kim would like his team to be more consistent, particularly on defense, the Eagles possess something that most of their opponents can’t match.
“Physicality,” he said. “We bring that to all our matches. You have to defend us from antenna to antenna. Defenses can’t focus on one player; our offense is wide open.”
Los Altos is slated to visit Palo Alto tonight and travel to King’s Academy Friday; both matches are set for 6:45 p.m.
