With Yet Another Win, Volleyball’s Streak Improves to 10

To say that the volleyball team has been on a hot streak would be a vast understatement. They are absolutely scorching. Ever since their only loss all season against Choate, they have won every one of their past nine games. This current streak is Exeter’s longest in at least nine years. Over that stretch, they have only dropped four sets and have won a ludicrous 54.8 percent of the points they have played.While Exeter still sits at two in the standings with Choate holding down the top spot, there is no denying that Big Red is the hotter team. Choate lost their first game of the season at Loomis, snapping their twenty three game streak. Exeter now holds the longest current winning streak in the conference, and it should not come to a halt any time soon.Their latest conquest was St. Paul’s on Saturday. They steamrolled the Pelicans with game scores of 25-8, 25-17 and 25-12. St. Paul’s had a very laid-back style of play, which Exeter took full advantage of. They were able to keep high-tempo attack throughout out the match and also worked on refining their play.Upper Michelle Bosche summed up the game perfectly when she said, “This game was a good one for us to practice our skills without much challenge from the other side.”And that very well might have been the best way for the Big Red to approach this contest: use it as practice for games to come. Every player on Coach Shang’s squad received playing time, allowing him to rest his starters while also getting looks at players who may have larger roles next season.With only two in-conference games remaining on the schedule, it will be very important for the team to win both of them. With Choate losing a game, there is now a chance of Exeter surpassing them to clinch the number one seed for the playoffs. For that to happen, Exeter would most likely need to win out and hope that Choate drops one of their remaining three games. The most likely upset for Choate would be this upcoming Wednesday at Taft, who they beat 25-18, 25-22 and 25-20 earlier in the season at home.Winning out is no easy challenge for the Big Red though. NMH should be a victory for Exeter if they keep up their pace of play. The game that should be circled on everyone’s calendar as the one to watch, and most likely has been since the beginning of the season, is E/A at Andover. Exeter has already beaten Andover this season 25-14, 25-17 and 25-22.But as lower Kat Dumoulin said, “Anything can happen during E/A.” That rings especially true at a hostile environment such as Andover.“My biggest fear is that our best effort won’t be enough,” upper Katya Scocimara said. While she was not talking solely about Andover, it certainly applies to that team. Come the playoffs, Exeter will most likely play Loomis or have another bout with Andover in the second round, if they are to make it that far. That is when this team will truly be tested, as the games mean more than any other time during the season.Before that happens, Exeter will have another opportunity to sharpen skills and keep their fire blazing this Saturday on the road. They will play both Suffield and Pomfret at Pomfret, and look to extend their streak to 11.