Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
By GERARDO RECINOS
Martinez Tribune
It happened 55 miles away from it’s epicenter, but the dream season finally ended for the Bulldog boys.
Their 3-0 loss to Leigh-San Jose marked the first time this season they lost a contest without getting at least a set win in three sets (they lost to Antioch 2-0 in the Foothill Invitational).
Alhambra was the final team representing the North Coast Section in the Northern California CIF tournament, but were bounced by the eventual runners up on May 26.
The winningest team in Alhambra boys volleyball history walked off the court in San Jose after three sets, probably with the same feeling Las Lomas felt only a week earlier.
After being handedly beaten by the Longhorns, the 44th best team in the nation according to MaxPreps, in the first two sets of the night, Alhambra was gifted a big lead to start the third set.
Leigh looked shaky and gifted Alhambra a 10-2 lead mostly off of a flurry of unforced mistakes on their part, as well as a few shots just wide of the mark.
After the game Coach Peter Crowley said he felt stunned that they didn’t win that game, but credit the Leigh team for their ability to pass their way out of bad spots.
“[Our] passing was uncharacteristically off this match making the quick transition impossible,” Crowley said after the match. “Leigh hit well against us with seam and line shots and tooling our block at will.”
Leigh got a handful of kills from nearly every player on the court, due to the creative setting of senior Ben VanDerLuit, who was able to contort his body in mid-air and give his hitters great angles to work with.
It was unlike any opponent the Bulldogs had faced up to that point.
On top of that Alhambra had to deal with the loss of Christian Cota, a senior middle whose injured shoulder ruled him out of the entire Nor Cal experience. Dylan Hammond stepped in and performed admirably in the circumstances, but Crowley admitted that he still had some way to go, but that his potential was promising.
Still without their usual lineup in there were some places where they were off in their usual rhythm, which Crowley acknowledged had to do with missing a key cog like Cota.
In the end, he credited Leigh by noting they were hungry to avenge a loss in the Central Coast Section playoff loss to Saratoga and get back at them in the Nor Cal Finals.
Saratoga, the 19th best team in the nation according to MaxPreps, beat Leigh 3-0 handedly at Dublin High School on Saturday, May 28.
