Many people thought that the boys volleyball team would be in for a tough year after losing seven crucial seniors last year, but the boys went on to prove them wrong by winning the Valley League and earning the first seed going into CIF.
“I think it’s really exciting (being seeded first going into CIF) especially because we graduated so many kids last year…and for us to be this young and the number one seed is awesome,” Head Coach Patsy Malta said.
Being the first seed for CIF is an advantage because the boys get home court advantage until finals, but it also makes it harder on them.
The first seed is always the team to beat so every team is going to be even more motivated to play MC.
“It’s nice to know we’re first but it’s also a big load to carry on our shoulders because we have to do well and we have a target on our backs,” junior Nick England said.
Malta credits the boys’ work ethic for their success this season.
“A lot of people said that ‘we’re going to lose a lot of seniors’ and ‘you guys might have to a little tougher year next year’ and really, I only had one starter back this year,” Malta said. “For us to do as well as we did, I think it’s really a tribute to them and how hard they work.”
The boys’ success this season may also have something to do with this year’s change in leagues.
“I also think it’s because we’re in the Valley League too and that’s a little bit easier,” Malta said. “But, we did beat Poway, and we did beat Westview. We’ve beaten every division II team that we should have.”
It was a little unnerving for the team entering the new league. They knew it wouldn’t be as strong as the Palomar League, but they were concerned about teams that they’d never faced surprising them with their level of play.
“I’m kind of surprised (that we won league) because you hear about Valley Center and Ramona being very good and I wasn’t sure how we would do,” Malta said. “I thought we could compete with them but I didn’t know how we’d do, not ever being in their gyms before.”
Although the whole team has played at a very high level all season, only four of them are mentioned on the North County Times website for being overall leaders in the North County.
England, the starting outside hitter, and junior Jamie Ferguson, the starting middle blocker, are mentioned for being two of the overall kill leaders in North County. England has 143 kills so far this season. Ferguson has 85 kills so far this season.
Junior Connor Mortland, the starting setter, has the third highest number of assists in the North County, with 434 assists so far this season.
Junior Stephan Lawrance, the starting libero, has 162 digs so far this season.
The team has a bye the first round of CIF and plays in the quarterfinals on tomorrow at seven at MC.
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