by Jackson K.

The 2017-18 season 3 Blach sports teams made school history this year when all four teams, the Boy’s 7th and 8th grade volleyball & the Girl’s 7th and 8th grade soccer teams, all made the league finale. This is the first time in school history that we have achieved this feat.

For the 7th Boys grade volleyball team, only 3 players have played competitively beforehand and most haven’t touched a volleyball before the school year. This is the first year these athletes have collectively played volleyball together. They finished the regular season at 6-3, losing 2 of their first 3 games to Cupertino and Sunnyvale, last year’s finalists. The first game was against the reigning Champs, Cupertino, who they would eventually play in the finals. They got blown out 3 sets to none in their first game. They won their next game against Columbia but then lost to Sunnyvale in 5 sets. The Falcons would then cruise to the playoffs. In their first 2 games in the playoffs, they didn’t lose a set and were ready to face off against the Cupertino Bears in the finals. But the confident Falcons would be swept 3-0, but finished an unexpectedly great season.

The 8th grade Boys volleyball team cruised through the season only losing one game to Lawson.  The Falcons won 3-0 in their first playoff game against Hyde and would face off against Miller in the finals to try for their second championship in a row. They would win an intense match that went to the fifth set and would seal their second finals victory.

The 7th grade Girls soccer team didn’t lose a game the entire season and only allowed only 1 goal. They breezed through the season and felt confident going into the playoffs. They would shutout the Cupertino bears 2-0 in the semis and reach the finals. The soccer studs scored 37 goals in 9 games before the championship, but couldn’t find the net against Sunnyvale in crunch time and lost 0-1. This team has a lot to hope for next year.

The 8th grade Girls soccer team, just like the 7th graders, were dominant all season, losing only 1 game to Graham, 0-1. I would say that defense was this team’s calling card, allowing only 3 goals in 9 games in the regular season. They won the semifinals by a score of 2-0 against our rivals, Egan. The championship ended in a draw after overtime. So the Falcons and Cupertino are 2018 co-champions.

Even though all four of our season 3 Blach sports teams made it to the season’s  most important game, only one team finished out on top, one tied, and the 7th grade teams couldn’t pull off a first season victory. The 7th graders will be back next year and hopeful for a second chance while the 8th graders will walk away with a trophy.

(Side note: This article was written on 4/2, before season 4 ended. This information is not up to date.)

This season the sports teams are hopeful to do the same as the season three teams. With playoffs coming up, the 7th grade boys soccer team is currently in second place and only needs to win the semifinals to reach the championship.  The 7th grade girls basketball team is also sitting in second place needing only to win one game to reach the finale. The 8th grade boys soccer team reached the playoffs, but is in 4th place. They need to outlast Egan and Cupertino to make it compete for the championship. Finally, the 8th grade girls team is tied for 1st and only needs to beat the 4th or 5th seed to advance to the last game of the season.