There was no letup in the Mountain View High girls volleyball team Thursday at Los Altos. After playing their rival even through four close sets, the Spartans’ energy and serving overwhelmed the Eagles in the fifth.
Mountain View prevailed 15-3, with Alex Sakamoto serving the final six points – capped by the match-winning ace.
Coach Dave Winn noted that his Spartans maintained the momentum they created “when we stormed back with some tough serving” and “super strong play from Tessa Hunter” in the fourth set, which they won 25-21.
“I think we were able to tire LAHS out by that point,” he said.
Los Altos coach Peter Kim agreed.
“We were just gassed, to be honest,” he said. “We ran out of gas in the fifth set.”
The Eagles started strong, claiming the first set 25-19.
“Los Altos really came out on fire and forced us to make a lot of unforced errors early,” Winn said.
The Spartans rebounded in the second set, leaning on their serving to win 25-18. Winn said Andisheh Turner “put on a serving clinic,” getting five aces as Mountain View jumped to a 9-1 lead. The Eagles scored eight straight to cut the deficit to one before making hitting errors as the Spartans’ serving heated up again.
“We made a lot of errors we normally don’t make,” Kim said.
Los Altos overcame that in the third set, holding on for a 25-23 win sealed by a kill from Aviya Russo. The freshman finished with a match-high 20 kills, one more than Hunter.
Eagle Kaitlyn Lee, who also made several kills in the set, totaled 15. Spartan Millie Kopp was the other player to reach double-digit kills, posting 12.
While kills were crucial, Mountain View’s superior serving played just as important a role in the match. The Spartans recorded 16 aces, six more than Los Altos. Setter Turner led all players with seven aces and added 39 assists. Counterpart Megan Wong racked up 46 assists for the Eagles.
“Megan played well,” Kim said of his senior setter, “and so did Aviya.”
Three days prior, Russo had 17 kills in a five-set win at Los Gatos, which sat atop the SCVAL De Anza Division standings.
The next day, however, Los Altos was swept by last-place Gunn.
“I think it’s mental fatigue,” said Kim, whose team slipped to 4-2 in league and 14-6 overall. “We have to work through it.”
Mountain View, meanwhile, is on a roll. The Spartans have won nine in a row and are in first place (5-1 league, 15-4 overall).
