The boys varsity volleyball team beat the Framingham Flyers in three sets on Thursday, April 4 in the Schluntz Gymnasium for their home opener game. Their record is now 1-1.
The Warriors played aggressively from the start, winning the first set 25-7. Many errors from the Flyers contributed to the large point deficit. According to junior varsity head coach Justin Soohoo, the Warriors played well in the first set and capitalized on the Flyers faults.
“The first set we were very aggressive and took a very commanding lead off of serve. Amir and Tomer did a great job of starting off strong on the serving side,” Soohoo said. “And from there I could tell Framingham started to get a little bit afraid to play up to the moment. I think we sort of ran with that. We didn’t do anything too crazy. We just executed simple offensive plays really well.”
The second set did not begin so smoothly. The Flyers were competitive, keeping the score to 20-15 before the Warriors took their first time-out. With renewed energy, several powerful hits from senior and center Odin Hilts brought the score to 24-15, until a powerful serve resulted in a point for the Flyers. The Warriors closed out the set with a block, resulting in a final score of 25-16.
Soohoo said the Warriors had less energy in the second set and were too complacent with the Flyers.
“In the second set, some miscommunication and discipline errors forced us into an early deficit. We were just a stronger and more experienced team at this point. So we were able to overcome that. But we have to make sure that we don’t let that happen again,” Soohoo said.
The Warriors got off to an early lead in the third set with a block and an ace, bringing the score to 2-1. They then scored 12 unanswered points fueled by a series of powerful spikes and serves, leaving the score at 14-5.
A point spree gained the Flyers momentum, but it was lost by some costly mistakes on which the Warriors capitalized. With a series of points from senior and captain libero Eli Traub, the score rested at 24-11. Cheered on by fans, a decisive block by the Warriors won the set 25-11 and the match 3-0.
According to Hilt, despite the Flyers being a new team, they still presented a challenge and forced the Warriors to adapt to their formations.
“Framingham has a new center so their offense was a little discombobulated, but their defense was good,” Hilt said. “I think they were a very scrappy team and we were definitely prepared for a lot of weird things to happen. I think that helped us overall.”
Hilt said that the favorable match-up allowed the team to utilize a more diverse roster than normal.
“I think this year especially we have a lot of talented players and I think it was good to let people that historically might not be able to get that much playing time to get off the bench into the game,” Hilt said.
