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The wait is over for this group of volleyball players, as Foothill Tech’s boys’ team has finally managed to escape from the first round of California Interscholastic Federation playoffs. After a couple years in a row of losing the first round, the Dragons took care of business on Monday, May 8, with an emphatic 3-0 win over the Morro Bay Pirates.
Coach Janine Cobian felt that her team’s performance was “fantastic” because of the way that they “stayed in system” against a “very large team.”
Matt Godfrey ‘20 opened the game with a powerful kill down the line for Foothill, followed by another from Collin Weaver ‘18. Morro Bay’s middle and outside hitters kept pace with Foothill’s, pounding hits at libero Dylan More ‘18, who threw his body around all night, keeping plays alive for the Dragons.
Kyle Cobian ‘18 set up Chad Talaugon ‘18 for a kill to bring the score to 5-4, and Weaver and Godfrey continued to put pressure on the Pirates with their big hits. After consecutive missed hits by Morro Bay, the score was brought to 11-8 in favor of Foothill. The Dragons then launched their run with kills from Tanner Nodolf ‘18, Godfrey, Weaver and Talaugon, putting them up 22-11. Morro Bay rallied for a few more points, but Weaver put the set away from a set from Cobian to win it 25-16.
The Pirates didn’t back down in the second set, blocking Foothill hitters several times at the start. Kills from Miles Harvey ‘19 and Talaugon put the Dragons up 6-5, and they never looked back. Morro Bay continued to hammer hits towards the Foothill passers and pulled it close in the end of the set, rallying from 6 points down to tie it at 22 apiece. After a missed serve from the Pirates, Godfrey had back-to-back kills to close the set 25-22.
The third set didn’t raise as many blood pressures as the second, as the Dragons led from wire to wire. Godfrey and Weaver continued to swing away and Foothill’s passing was seemingly impeccable down the stretch. They ran away with the set, winning it easily 25-14 as Nodolf ended the game with an ace.
Weaver thought that the team came out “really strong” to open the game and “overall played really well.” He also wants the team to work on their mental strength for all three sets, and staying focused the entire time.
“I think we were pretty consistently solid,” Harvey said. “Our blocking wasn’t great, and our passing hasn’t been on fire, but we are going to go as far as we can with what we have.”
Foothill will take on Downey High School on the road on Thursday, May 10, as they look to keep their season alive.
