On Tuesday May 7, the boys’ volleyball closed out the season with a loss against Monte Vista High School in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, with the Matadors going on to win the tournament. Although their run in the postseason was cut short, this remains one of the program’s most successful seasons to date.

The team started their campaign in the tournament against Soquel High School on May 6. The Knights put up a strong fight against the Panthers, with frequent kills that kept Burlingame from a quick three set win. However, in the end, they were able to secure the victory in four sets, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18.

“I think that was actually probably one of the best outcomes that we could have had for CCS. So we were the eighth seed and they were the ninth…So we expected it to be a pretty close game which all the sets were. And so that was a pretty fun game,” co-captain and junior Reiter Madden said.

The squad was unable to continue that win streak, with their loss against the Matadors partially due to a lack of energy on the court.

“I feel like we didn’t really come up with as much energy as we should have. And so I feel like we struggled…But then after that we started getting more energy from the bench.” junior Lucas Stuart said.

The team has no shortage of achievements to add to their resume from this season, with an impressive league record of 22-11, a CCS berth and a fourth-place finish in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay Division. These metrics capture the Panthers’ improvement and growth as a team throughout the past few years and especially this season.

“Lots of improvement and I would say not only this season, just thinking back at some of the players who have been on the team for three or four years …[they] have made tremendous progress since they started with not much knowledge and volleyball until today,” head coach Lawrence Ngai said. “This is the team and this is the growth that I’m going to see coming back into next season.”

This season’s success was largely attributed to the team that has developed and improved throughout the past few years.

“It was kind of a culmination of the last three years of work. And then it was good to see towards the end everyone was starting to come together and we were starting to look really good. And I think that we did a good job of introducing our freshmen and some of the newer players, to the team and to the sport overall,” senior and co-captain Erazem Mattick said.

“It didn’t hurt to have talented underclassmen who quickly stepped up and showed their skill on the court,” Madden noted.

“I have really enjoyed a lot of our successes in winning, but also our younger teammates that have really gotten a lot better. We have a few freshmen and sophomores and they’ve gotten really a lot better. And so that’s really helpful for the longevity of our program,” Madden said

Qualifying and playing in CCS was a highlight for many in the squad. Veterans like co-captains Madden and Mattick have awaited this achievement for a long time.

“I was really really excited. That was my goal for the season to make it to CCS, and you
now, play at least one game and I’m so happy that we were able to play two. And I’m hoping that next year we can, you know, do that again, get to CCS [and] hopefully get even a little further,” Madden said.

Looking back on the season, Stuart will remember the connections he made among the team.

“I enjoyed the friendships I created with my teammates, the seniors and some of the freshmen like Fabian, creating a better bond with them and having friends outside of my usual social life,” Stuart said.

Mattick echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how being able to meet and play with people he wouldn’t have known was especially valuable.

“I think playing with people who I get to see at school is kind of cool. Like it’s not, I don’t just know them from volleyball. I get to know them at school as well. It’s cool to see people who I never would have talked to before at school,” Mattick said.

Now, as the season comes to an end, the Panthers are eager to improve even more and try to advance even further in the postseason next year.

“We’re going to do a number of things for the program next season. We’re going to push to work with a lot more new players, whether they’re freshmen or sophomores or whatever, grades who might be interested in playing volleyball. I think not having a gym is always a disadvantage for us…but there will be more efforts in recruiting and working with incoming students who might be interested,” Ngai said.

With the departure of the senior athletes, the team is focusing on bringing in new talent from younger grades.

“We have a lot of great seniors, so finding people to fill those shoes is going to be pretty difficult but I have high hopes that we’ll have incoming freshmen and people coming from JV that can help us build and train throughout the season to become the best that they can be,” Madden said.