Sports
San Ramon's California Grizzlies Maul Monte Vista Mustangs
Monte Vista Men's Volleyball Team Loses in Straight Games to Cal High Thursday.
California High bested the Monte Vista men's varsity volleyball team in San Ramon Thursday night. It was the first meeting between the North Coast Section rivals in the Cal High Grizzlies' new event center – a gym so new it doesn't even have a name yet.
The Monte Vista Mustangs (now 5-9) lost to the Grizzlies (8-7) in three straight games, 25-12, 25-19, 25-19.
They almost lost a lot more.
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Kyle Thekkek, Monte Vista's only returning senior and only setter, went down after his serve just three points into the first game. He landed hard on his left ankle.
"It's just a big pit in your stomach," said Monte Vista head coach Mike Bongay. "For a moment, you feel like your whole season might go to waste."
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The setter on a volleyball team is akin to a quarterback or a point guard – they direct the offense and set other people up to score. Thekkek, one of the better setters in the league, is the Mustangs' equivalent of Stephen Curry.
Thekkek's injury kept him out for most of the first game, but he would return after visiting the trainer. Taped up and struggling to put weight on his foot, Thekkek paced behind the Mustang's bench, waved off his understandably worried mother, and told his coach he was ready to go back in.
"He's a soldier," Bongay said. "Nothing could have stopped him from getting back out on the court. He gets my MVP of the game for busting his butt and going back out there to set as many balls as he did."
Senior utilityman, Adrial Hsu, did an admirable job of filling in for Thekkek, who was noticeably favoring his left ankle when he returned, but the Mustangs still dropped the first game 25-12.
The Mustangs rallied around Thekkek and played the Grizzlies tougher the next two games. They kept the score close and traded points for most of the night, but faltered at the back end of each game, losing the next two 25-19.
Junior Mikey Scott had five kills on a night where there weren't many big plays at the net for the Mustangs.
"We kept ourselves in the game with hustle," said Bongay. "We went out there and put it all on the court."
It was a bittersweet night for coach Bongay, who graduated from Cal High in 2002 and coached both men's and women's volleyball there for seven years.
"You always have that little part inside of you that really wants to beat your former school," he said. "It will be interesting when they come to our gym and we play them. They're a beatable team. We're definitely going to take them out the next time we see them."
The Mustangs are now 0-4 in East Bay Athletic League play, having lost previously to Amador Valley, Foothill and Granada.
"We've had a tough early part of our schedule," said Bongay, "but I haven't seen anything that makes me think my guys can't win these games the next time around."
