Boys varsity volleyball swept the Saint John’s Prep Eagles 3-0 on Saturday, April 12, in the Schluntz Gymnasium.

In the first set, the team started out with energy as Schluntz was filled with support.

Junior Liam Raybould started off the game with a great set, filled with powerful spikes and demanding blocks. Raybould said his performance was due to the support of his team.

“The passing of Andrew Bacon and the setting with Alec Smagula was really helpful to have all that good stuff around me, so I just had an easy job of putting the ball down,” Raybould said.

The Warriors maintained the lead for the rest of the set and won it 25-18.

As the teams switched sides, the energy in the gym only got stronger. According to Raybould, the majority of the energy came from off the court.

“Our bench and our JV teams are a big source of our energy for us and when we’re playing good we usually have high energy. And even when we’re playing bad, we’re trying to still have that high energy to carry us through,” Raybould said.

Senior and captain Kristaps Vaivars had a demanding second set that brought the Warriors to a lead the Eagles were not able to catch up to. Vaivars said that the success of the team is found in the strength of the team as a whole.

“I think one of the things that we did well is our offense was very well-rounded. Everyone was getting kills, our passing was pretty good, and we got to run someplace, and that definitely was pretty unstoppable,” Vaivars said.

As a result of a good defense and better offense, the Warriors were able to win the second set, 25-16. Only a set away from victory, the energy of the squad got more and more positive.

In the third set, the momentum continued to drive as the Warriors took an 8-2 lead in the third set. After that, the score continued to snowball as players such as Junior and captain Amir Tomer and senior Andrew Bacon made impressive displays of skill.

The Warriors maintained the lead, as Vaivars’s serve ended the third set 25-15.

With the absence of head coach Lexi De La Cruz, assistant coach Justin Soohoo was able to step up and lead the team to victory. Soohoo credited the win to the momentum that the energy was able to build.

“We wanted to make sure that we kept our energy high for this match because I think that’s the major factor for us,” Soohoo said. “We did a really good job of keeping ourselves positive, keeping ourselves high energy and not worrying about mistakes too much.”

Looking forward to the week, the Warriors are set to play rival Newton North. Soohoo understands how important games such as this one are to preparing and ensuring the team is always getting better.

“I think the big thing for us is just making sure we take it all one day at a time, and keep ourselves consistent in how we prepare,” Soohoo said. “Every team we need to respect and treat as if they’re going to take a game on us or take a set if we don’t treat them seriously.”