On Tuesday, May 13, boys’ varsity volleyball closed out the season with a loss against Harbor High School in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, falling to the Pirates in all three sets (12-25, 22-25, 17-25). Although the team’s postseason run was cut short, the season remains one of their most successful.
The Panthers began their CCS campaign against Christopher High School on Monday, May 12. While the Cougars challenged them with organized defense and frequent blocks, key contributions from senior outside hitter Lucas Stuart, junior outside hitter Fabian Falconett, and sophomore outside hitter Owen Carroll ultimately helped the Panthers secure a three-set victory (25-20, 25-22, 25-19). While the victory highlighted their strength, the team stayed grounded as they prepared for their next match.
“The first win was more expected, because we were a higher seed than that team,” senior setter Cole Ng said. “After, we knew we had a really tough matchup going forward because Harbor was the second seed in the tournament. We didn’t really let it get to our heads too much. After the game, we just locked back in and worried about what would happen tomorrow.”
While the Panthers remained focused, they were unable to get the same results against Harbor, who kept Burlingame’s hitters at bay with a strong defensive structure and frequent tactical changes throughout the match.
“We just couldn’t get our offense started. Every time we got our offense started, their coaches were very smart and called timeout to freeze us a little bit so we really couldn’t push forward,” head coach Lawrence Ngai said. “Usually, we are a very good passing team, so we knew going in that passing wasn’t an issue for us, but in the end it became an issue, so it was difficult to handle.”
According to team captain and senior Reiter Madden, a lack of energy and cohesiveness also impacted the Panthers’ performance.
“They were a really good team, and we just kind of fell apart,” Madden said. “I think we had a lack of energy and we had a really hard time keeping ourselves consistent and making sure that we were playing our own game and not letting them get in our heads.”
While the Panthers also ended their playoff campaign in the quarterfinals last season, the team has only been improving. They ended this season with a 25-8 record, improving upon last season’s 22-11 record, and secured a third-place league finish, surpassing last season’s fourth-place finish.
“The program has grown, we’ve been working with players to encourage them to play throughout the year,” Ngai said. “There’s a lot of good athletes at Burlingame, and with the training, plus the enthusiasm, and everybody coming together, I think it has helped us from a scoring perspective.”
According to Ng, the addition of assistant coaches David Newman and Eric Chiang has also played an important role in the team’s success this season.
“[Ngai] is a great coach, but one coach can’t do everything himself. Just having two separate points of view, I could tell really lessened the burden on him,” Ng said. “One of our assistant coaches set for Princeton when he was in college and has a really competitive spirit, there’s no team he believes we can’t beat. Just him truly believing in our potential rubbed off on us too.”
Ng also credited newer players who have helped increase the team’s morale this season.
“Last year, there was a lot of arguing, bickering, and not much team chemistry,” Ng said. “This year, there’s a lot more seniors, but these two sophomores, Owen Carroll and Julian Lee, the energy they’ve brought to the team is just so uplifting. It makes everyone get along with each other better.”
Reflecting on the season, Madden recognizes the room for improvement and notes the importance of continuing to build on the team’s success next season.
“A positive is that there’s so much room to grow. I think on a different day, we could’ve beaten Harbor, but that was a bad day,” Madden said. “I think it’s a good goal for next year, to work over the summer and come back next spring for the underclassmen and juniors to go further.”
