Volleyball Takes Down Taft and Hotchkiss in DH

WATERTOWN, CT - In a closely-contested double header, Exeter’s girls’ varsity volleyball defeated both Taft and Hotchkiss at the Taft School campus.In only the second and third games of the season, Exeter played to five sets against Taft, losing both the first and the third of three very closely contested sets before coming from behind to win by more than double in the last two to win the match. Exeter lost only the third set of its match against Hotchkiss, however, winning three to wrap up the long day.Volleyball head coach Bruce Shang said that the two wins showed the teams fast progression, but still left room to work as the team prepares for further games. “The team is doing great, with two big wins over Hotchkiss and Taft,” Shang said. “We still have tons of work ahead of us to improve.”The co-captains, seniors Weilin Chan and Kaelina Lombardo, agreed that the first game represented a struggle for the team, but overall turned out well.“In the past losing one set and being discouraged has been a problem, but this time I was really happy to see that the energy was kept up and we all kept fighting to push up for a lead,” Chan said.“Against Taft, it was a bit of a struggle—it is a combination of a three and a half hour bus ride, and the fact that that was only the second game we have played together as a team this season,” Lombardo said. “The team’s coming together but we’re still making some adjustments. The game wasn’t as cleaned up as we would have liked it to be, but it we played with a lot of heart and kept it together. I think that it was frustrating to have to take it to five matches, but it was a good win—it was a challenge, but we pulled through.”Lower Michelle Bosche, an outside hitter, said that the team fared well despite the pressure of two games. “Double headers are difficult because we play for such long time; there were a few games where we were tired and didn’t move our feet as much, butoverall we played well in both of the matches,” Bosche said. “We work really well under pressure and that clearly showed.”With these games coming at the beginning of the year, many on the team believe they have come together well, despite the progress they need to make.“We’ve improved so much since last year with returning players, and the new players and their skills really add a great dynamic,” Bosche said.Lombardo believes that the team should build off of this dynamic to work together more efficiently on the court.“We need to have strong passes," she said. "Although there’s a great team dynamic, we are definitely going to work on our communication on the court during game situations because we had a couple instances where that caused mistakes.”The team needs to vary their offensive hits, according to Chan, as teams have are becoming familiar with Exeter’s strategy. “Right now, our hitters are working different hits so that we’re less predictable,” Chan said. “There are teams that know us better and know how we play. I’m really excited to see how our team progresses and how we will improve in the coming games.”Next up, the girls host Pingree at the Love Gym this Saturday.After yet another win yesterday against Governors, Big Red will hope to build on their flying start to the season and rack up their fifth consecutive victory.