On the night of April 12, 2023, the Dragons honored their senior players while hosting the Laguna Blanca School. Hoping to secure a win on Senior Night and end their league losing streak, the Dragons played hard, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to beat the Laguna Blanca Owls. In the photo above, Sean Scampone ’23 (number 7) reaches in the air getting ready to tip the ball over the two Laguna Blanca blockers. Behind Scampone, Owen Houston ’23 (number 8) is ready to cover in case the Owls send the ball back over.
Boys’ volleyball spiked on by Laguna Blanca
On the afternoon of April 12, 2023, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys’ volleyball team faced off against the Laguna Blanca School Owls (Laguna Blanca) for their annual Senior Night. The game took place at the Cabrillo Middle School gym and the Dragons lost 0-3 to the league champion Owls.
Before the game, the team honored their seniors with flowers and gift bags. Seniors also shared a message with their friends and families in which they often thanked them for their support.
To start the match off, everyone on the court was seniors and the Dragons were ready to go. The game began as the Owls jumped to an early 4-2 lead while no dominant plays occurred on either side. Suddenly, Laguna Blanca took off, as they went on a seven point run and took the lead 11-2.
The Dragons broke the streak with a penalty from Laguna and they looked to capitalize on the loss of momentum, but Laguna won the next point, 12-3. Foothill Tech’s Spencer Jones ‘25 stepped up and made two blocks and a spike as he brought the momentum back to the Dragons.
The first set ended as Laguna Blanca and Foothill Tech traded points until the Owls eventually won 25-12.
The second set started with the Dragons scoring the first point of the set, but they slowly fell behind during the second set as no major plays or streaks happened on either side. The Dragons were down 14-20 when team captain Tyler Jorden ‘23 yelled at his teammates to get locked into the game and implored a line judge to “stop talking to the crowd,” which resulted in Jorden receiving a yellow card that he and his teammates laughed off.
The second set ended with Laguna pulling away to win 25-16, going up 2-0 in sets, needing only one more to close out the sweep.
The third set started as the Dragons came out strong, they took the first point and were able to stay in it. The set was tied 11-11 and looked promising for the Dragons, although Laguna Blanca had other plans and went on a five point streak and pulled away. They continued to pull away after trading points until Sam Noah ‘23 produced a block that moved the momentum back in favor of the Dragons.
This effort was not enough as Laguna Blanca won the last set 25-17 and swept the Dragons 3-0. Though it was a disappointing way to end Senior Night, spirits remained high amidst the celebrations.
Coach Marc Denitz commented on the game saying, “we are not going to win that match but we want to compete.”
Owen Houston ‘23 was excited about the Dragons efforts as he stated, “Obviously the game didn’t go the way we wanted, but I thought we all played hard and played to the best of our abilities.”
The Dragons last match was against Cate School on April 18. The win finished them in fourth place in league at 5-5, but their overall record of 9-10-1 prevented them from qualifying for an at-large bid for CIF play.