Mistakes and blown chances left the Los Altos volleyball team rueing what should have been win in a 3-0 loss against Homestead Oct. 1.
The Mustangs (13-4) took advantage of mistakes from the Eagles (6-8) to go on late runs in all three sets to win (27-25, 27-25 and 25-23) and leave the Eagles wondering what went wrong after so much went right.
“We should have won this match,” Los Altos head coach Peter Kim said. … “We gave that one away.”
The Eagles started well early, taking a 7-1 lead in the opening set and going on a 7-3 run to make it 20-15, with Los Altos taking a 14-8 lead in the second. However, Homestead rallied with a 5-0 run in the first set at 23-19 to take a 24-23 advantage and an 8-0 run in the second set at 23-16 to again take the lead and eventual set win. Los Altos had a 14-11 lead in the third set when Homestead had an 9-3 run to take a 20-17 lead that led to the sweep.
“It’s kind of a reversal now,” Kim said of the team’s starts. “At the beginning we started slow; now we are starting fast and can’t finish it. It may be a good sign that we are starting better now but can’t finish it.”
Los Altos had its biggest run off the game in the second set 12-0 to go from being down 7-2 to leading 14-7. However, the set was derailed for the Eagles after libero Ana Heath left the game with an injury with the score at 21-16. The Eagles led 23-16 before Homestead went on its 8-0 to take the lead, taking advantage of the Eagles shuffling the backline to try and compensate for the injury.
“It’s tough when you lose your libero in the middle of the set, but people have to step up and make plays,” Kim said.
The Eagles in the third set were able to withstand another late run by Homestead to eventually tie 22-22. However, freshman Katie Hamburger and Johanna Lee got kills for the Mustangs to complete the sweep.
“I thought it was more consistent, but again, we just can’t finish right now,” Kim said.
Just a few days after beating Mountain View away 3-2 in a passionate rivalry game, the Eagles couldn’t bring the same energy against Homestead. Kim has talked to the team about bringing more fire to the game and saw it in spurts against Homestead but knows it will take more complete performances to move up the standings in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Los Altos is now 1-4 in league play, with only Gunn behind them in the standings.
“It’s something that has to come within, Kim said of the team’s fire. “Right now, we have it, and then we don’t. It’s really inconsistent.”
