On Monday night, the men's volleyball had an easy win against the Westmont Warriors, winning the match 3-0 and advancing to the CCS playoffs. Junior setter Peter Criss connected with senior Andrew Bernardicou and sophomore outside hitter Ben Warner for a total of 20 kills as the Bears outscored the Warriors in a great all-around performance.
The Bears held the lead for almost the entire game. His senior, Andrew Bernardicoux, casually celebrated the win, saying, “I wasn't worried at all during the game.” It was always very calm. Probably one or two at most. So I wasn't too worried. I believe we can get it back. ”
The first set started out close, with each team struggling to avoid a tie situation. The Bears quickly picked up steam, improving to 12-8 and forcing an early Warriors timeout. The game remained close, with each team finding key attacking moments. Chris threatened with a deadly setter dump, and junior middle Milo Schiri forced his way through the block and scored. Kills from Bernardicoux and Warner highlighted the Bears' strong run late in the set, giving them a 19-14 lead. However, the Warriors quickly responded and found a way to nullify the attack with their strong forward defense.
Westmont was able to make a comeback and forced an MA timeout with the score at 22-21. An incredible kill from junior Johnny Carr seemed to give the Bears momentum, but several mistakes by the Bears forced the Warriors to take the lead at 23-23. But the Bears found their footing, with Kerr scoring two consecutive points to secure a thrilling first set with a final score of 25-23.
The Bears started the second set well with Chris hitting a powerful ace. MA opened up an early lead with a 7-3 lead on several great blocks from juniors Aiden Gabriel and Schiri. The Warriors called a timeout after a few points, and the Bears led 9-4. Warner continued to be a threat from the backcourt, feeding Chriss up the middle for kill after kill. The Bears were able to hold a three-point lead until midway through the set, but Westmont stepped up defensively to tie the score and force an MA timeout.
Both teams kept the score even, but a series of missed shots by Westmont gave the Bears a three-point lead, 21-18. The second set ended at 25-21 thanks to the offense led by Bernardicoux and the continued threat of Warner at the back.
Schwartzberg said of the flow of the game, “I didn't expect them to gain any momentum at all, and that was usually because we lost focus and got too relaxed. We communicated and we got too relaxed. If we watch each other, play our positions well and trust our team, we can definitely regain momentum, win important rallies and move on to the next few points.”
The Bears took a lead into the third set thanks to Chris' strong jump serve. Leading 6-0, every part of the team seemed to be getting in on the action. Westmont didn't get within four points by the third timeout of the game, and the Bears held a comfortable 20-14 lead. The Westmont stands erupted in cheers as they regained three points on the season, but MA closed out the game confidently, defeating the Westmont Warriors 3-0 and advancing to the next round of the CCS Playoffs. proceeded to.
Warner said of his performance that night and his connection with Chris: We're both really good players and we love playing together. ”
The Bears' season ended Tuesday night with a narrow loss to third-seeded Cupertino.