The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Senior-studded Mustangs roll into CCS volleyball semifinals
By Mike Barnhart
Displaying the dominance expected of the No. 1 seed, Homestead rolled through the first two rounds of the Central Coast Section boys volleyball championships last week.
The only thing that stood between coach Matt Hoffman's senior-studded squad and an opportunity to capture the school's first CCS volleyball crown was a semifinal date with No. 4 St. Francis (33-7) on May 15.
The Mustangs beat St. Francis 2-0 back in early March in the Homestead Tournament semifinals, but the Lancers looked strong in three-game sweeps over Saratoga in the first round and Mountain View in the quarterfinals.
A victory over St. Francis would put Homestead into the championship match against either No. 3 Bellarmine or No. 10 Willow Glen May 17, 7 p.m., at Independence High in San Jose.
With an experienced cast of players performing like a well-oiled machine, the top-seeded Mustangs ended Leigh's season in a quarterfinal match at Independence last Saturday.
In the 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 victory over the Longhorns, 6-foot-5 senior setter Ryan Bridge did an excellent job of disguising his sets. Two other seniors, 6-foot-8 middle blocker Ryan Dedrick and 6-foot outside hitter Weston Buckner, performed tremendously. Dedrick, always a force at the net, recorded six blocks and seven kills, while the high-flying Buckner put away 13 kills.
Leigh, the Blossom Valley Athletic League champion and a first-round winner over San Lorenzo Valley, simply could not handle Homestead's combination of size, speed and skill, and finished the season 28-10.
Homestead quickly opened the first game with an 8-3 lead, then methodically stretched its advantage throughout the contest. Game two was much the same way, as the Longhorns never were able to string together more than two points. Finally, in game three, Leigh scored three straight points and led briefly, but the Mustangs simply were too good.
And, with plenty more weapons than their three senior stars, the Mustangs never let up. Six-foot-3 senior Paul Wadensweiler was hitting and blocking well from his opposite position. Outside hitters Andrew Blazensky and Dale Park and libero Bryan Nguyen, all seniors, turned in strong performances. A pair of sophomores, 6-foot-4 middle blocker Luke Rosener and 6-foot-1 outside hitter Andrew Leamon, also gave Leigh problems.
Except for game two, Homestead powered through its first-round match against visiting Harker, 3-1.
Led by Buckner's 15 kills, the Mustangs rolled, 25-12, 21-25, 25-12, 25-13. Harker, which reached the playoffs by beating out The King's Academy for the Private Schools Athletic League championship, finished its season with a 22-13 record.
By beating Leigh, Homestead reached the semifinal round for the fifth time in the 11 years that the CCS has staged a boys volleyball tournament. In 2000, the Mustangs advanced to the final match, but lost to Bellarmine in four games.
Bellarmine's trip to the CCS volleyball final four is its seventh. St. Francis lost in its only other semifinal appearance (2003). Until this season, Willow Glen had not won a CCS playoff match. After seven unsuccessful tries, including a five-game defeat to eventual champion Los Gatos last year, the Rams won in four games at No. 7 Monterey and pulled off a surprising sweep of No. 2 seed Mount Madonna in the quarterfinals.
