Boys’ Volleyball Reigns Supreme
Last Saturday, Exeter boys’ volleyball traveled to Wilbraham and Monson, where they competed in the New England Tournament against Choate and NMH. The team battled hard and beat Choate 2--0, winning each set 25--22 and 26--24. After winning its first game against Choate, the team faced NMH in the finals, edging out the victory 3--2, becoming the New England Champs. The set scores of this game were 25--27, 23--25, 25--19, 25--15 and 20--18.
With the wins last weekend, Exeter had many positive takeaways.
“The championship game was without a doubt a showcase of all the lessons we learned throughout the season: perseverance, determination and trusting one another,” upper Max Kirsch said.
Senior Hugh O’Neil agreed and elaborated on the victories. “We were pretty prepared to play against Choate. They surprised us the last time we played them, but this time we knew what to expect. We remained confident and passed very well, which carried us through the game.”
O'Neil also commented on the championship game against NMH. “The last time we played NMH we lost because of their overall athleticism and height. In this game, we lost the first two sets because their athleticism proved to be too much. At this point, we had almost given up. The third set was very back and forth, and we ended up winning, which really boosted the team’s momentum. In the fourth set we had the momentum and we served very well, which allowed us to win the set. Then we just kept going with confidence into the fifth set,” O’Neil said.
“The championship game was without a doubt a showcase of all the lessons we learned throughout the season: perseverance, determination and trusting one another.”
It was back and forth as the set approached 15, the score to win. Both teams had chances to win the games, and in fact, in one of these instances NMH had thought they won the game, but a net violation cost them the point. This happened again to the same NMH player, which angered the player. He began to talk back to the ref, and was issued a yellow card. The captain then started talking as well, and was issued a red card for harassing the ref. With a red card, Exeter was granted a point, which put them in the lead over NMH, 19--18. Big Red took the next point, winning the New England Tournament.
When Exeter was down, it was the energy of the team that kept the athletes in the game.
“The bench was crucial in keeping the energy high when we were down against NMH. Volleyball is such an emotional sport, so keeping energy was a big part of our success. Every single hitter went off at some point. Hugh played well, Max played well and both outside hitters played well,” lower Graham Rutledge said.