Their first loss of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League volleyball season did not sit well with the Homestead girls. And it was the Palo Alto Vikings and Monta Vista Matadors who ended up paying the price because of it.
The Mustangs beat both teams in straight sets last week to up their DeAnza Division record to 5-1, keeping them within hailing distance of the still unbeaten Los Altos Eagles (5-0).
Homestead rebounded from its recent loss to the first-place Eagles by soundly defeating Palo Alto 25-13, 25-21, 25-19.
Senior Katie Barker led the way for the Mustangs with a match-high 14 kills, while senior Connor Bunka added seven and junior Sofia Olsson chipped in with six.
Two days later on their own home court, the Mustangs trounced the Matadors 25-9, 25-5, 25-17 behind the play of Barker and Olsson again. Homestead improved its overall record for the season to 13-11.
The loss, coming on the heels of a three-set defeat at the hand of Milpitas, left Monta Vista still searching for its first league win and mired in last place with a record of 0-5.
Meanwhile, in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, the Lynbrook Vikings came out on the short end of a meeting of unbeatens last Thursday, falling to the Saratoga Falcons in straight sets 25-17, 25-18, 25-19.
Sophomores Morgan Wu, who nailed eight spikes, and Jiayi Shen, who dealt out 15 assists, sparkled in the loss for Lynbrook.
The Vikings, who ended the week 5-1 in league play, were coming off of a 25-13, 28-26, 25-12 victory over Cupertino at home behind Wu’s 14 kills, freshman Alice Cai’s 21 digs and Shen’s 25 assists. Cupertino received strong play from junior Niharika Sanghavi (four blocks), freshman Kaitlyn Oh (15 digs) and freshman Laura Workman (11 assists).
The Pioneers rebounded with a 26-28, 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 triumph over Milpitas last Thursday at home, where they are 4-1 this season.
Junior Lisa Qing and senior Leah Ramirez hammered down nine and eight kills, respectively, to pace the Cupertino attack, while Oh contributed seven service aces and Workman dished out 20 assists. Junior Rithu Simha blocked five shots and Sanghavi blocked another four, and Oh registered a match-best 21 digs to key the Pioneer defensive effort.
Fremont’s Firebirds fell to 1-4 in SCVAL play following a 25-8, 25-16, 25-15 dismantling at the hands of Wilcox.