Volleyball Obliterates BB&N 3-0
Boys’ varsity volleyball continues its undefeated season after defeating Choate 3-0 at home on Saturday. This was the team’s second game against Choate, having previously beaten the team on its home court earlier in the season. The team has consistently shut out every match, winning best of five matches in three games and maintaining its undefeated season with an 8-0 record.
"We won 3-0 and had a lot of fun doing it."
This past Saturday, however, the players had to step up their game to defeat Choate. “They were a good team that kept rallies going,” said senior and co-captain Ben Swett. “This really challenged us to pass well and execute our offense in order to put them away.” Co-captain and senior Mitchell Kirsch also noted the high energy and excitement of the team. “The Choate game was very similar to all of our other games,” he said. “We won 3-0 and had a lot of fun doing it.”
The match was high both in energy and skill level, with many notable performances by several different team members. Kirsh praised lower Don Assamongkol’s jump serve, which consistently sent the opposing team’s players reeling. “We also had some big plays out of Grambo [Graham Rutledge] and Jacob [Grandison] at the net,” he said. “Ben Swett smoked the ball per usual.”
In addition to the excellent team dynamic, Swett also singled out several of his teammates for their exceptional performance in the match. “Mitch Kirsch was such an athletic setter and did a great job distributing the ball,” he said. “Noah Asch had a great pipe in the final set. He and Emilio [Karakey] also passed plenty of 3’s that got the offense going. Graham [Rutledge] was a killer right side and Kelvin [Green] was a jaw-dropping middle.”
The team looks forward to continuing its winning streak through the rest of the season and into the NEC league championships, which will be played at Choate this upcoming Saturday. Coming off such an exceptional season, Swett has high hopes for the Championships. “Our goal is definitely to bring home another championship,” he said. “We’ve beaten every team so far, so we control how our season finishes.” Kirsh agreed, summing up the team’s goals for the rest of the season in one word: Win. Swett also said that, in addition to preparing for the championships, the team is looking to continue competing outside of the NEC league games.
“We’re also planning to scrimmage some public school teams that are the top teams in Massachusetts,” said Swett. Swett believed that by playing school outside of the NEC league, the team would get a chance to compete at a more challenging level. “We hope to keep up with them, and win those games too,” he said. In addition to the upcoming NEC tournament, the team is also looking forward to taking on Andover for the second time this season during Exeter/Andover weekend, its final match of the season. Coming off an incredible season, boys’ varsity volleyball is excited to continue its unstoppable momentum through its final few matches.