On Tuesday, March 14, the Falcons took on the San Rafael Bulldogs in men’s volleyball. During the home game, the Falcons soared over the Bulldogs, making a quick three-to-zero set, and sweeping the Bulldogs. 

When the team’s seniors graduated last year, the Falcons struggled to restructure without their experienced leaders. However, the underclassmen are now shining and helped their team get the win over San Rafael. 

“This year we have a lot of newcomers and they played really well, we struggled to go for the ball… but they played really well,” said senior captain Alex Lucich. 

In the first set, the Falcons came out strong offensively, giving them a small 7-4 lead. However, the Bulldogs kept the set close and competitive. Falcon players felt their team was struggling with miscommunication in this set. 

Once the Falcons’ offense settled down, they dominated the Bulldogs, creating a 20-9 lead. The Bulldogs tried their best for a comeback, bringing the score to 17-24. Still, their efforts were not enough and the Falcons took the first set, 25-17. 

“We mixed things up.. everyone was kinda confused at some points, we could’ve been more clear in these situations,” said sophomore Zach Wulf.

In the second set, the Falcons took an early 11-4 lead with some high-intensity gameplay. Learning from the previous set, they made fewer errors and communicated well, allowing the Falcons to keep a consistent lead over the Bulldogs. The Falcons continued to widen the gap and won the second set 25-16.

The third set was a competitive back-and-forth matchup that showed both teams’ strengths. Early on, the Bulldogs were down 5-2, but came back and tied the set at 6-6. The score switched around until settling at 17-17. 

For the final eight points, the Falcons went on an 8-0 scoring streak, taking the final set to the nest, and sweeping the Bulldogs. 

“I think we did well, given the circumstances. It’s hard to play lower-level teams because sometimes you play down to them, but I think our team did really well by just playing our game instead of theirs,” Zach said.

The Falcons hope to keep pushing through communication struggles and shape their team to success. This Thursday, the Falcons will head to the road and face off next against Analy High School in the Analy home gym.