Volleyball Remains Victorious
As the Choate Rosemary Hall player spikes the ball onto the Exeter side of the court, Big Red upper Sam Michaels sprawls out across the floor, barely tipping the ball and saving it from hitting the ground. Rebounding from the near miss, Exeter sets up a counter-spike at the net and sends the ball blistering into the floor. As it bounces up, the Choate crowd goes silent. The Exeter boys’ varsity volleyball members circle up at the center of their side of the court and give each other high fives. They have finally closed the gap between the early running Choate team. The score stands at 14 points to Exeter and Choate both.
In Big Red’s most recent volleyball smackdown, the team went back and forth with the Choate squad. However, as soon as they tied the game, Exeter took the lead and ran with it. Lower Kerick Walker explained why the team faltered early in the match. “We started off really slowly in the first set because the bus ride took extra long. We didn’t get that long to warm up because we showed up right before the game,” he said. “They were winning halfway through the first set, but then we came back.”
One of the key factors to the team’s brilliant success this season, this game included, was the persistence of their setters. A key highlight that really put Exeter ahead of the opposition this weekend was the work of Michaels, the team’s setter. According to lower Colt Delaney, “Sam has been good consistently throughout the season, and, during the Choate game, he definitely had one of the best performances on the team.”
Senior Zach Stenglein, a new player on the team, was also praised for his play during the game. Walker applauded Stenglein for his successful performance, saying, “Zach played really well. He had a lot of blocks and some nice hits.”
“It will be interesting for us [since] we have never played tournament style before. This means we will be playing multiple games in a single day.”
Delaney shared his proudest moment of the game. “I usually play on the right side, but I was on the other side because of the rotation we were in. When you are playing on the right, you don’t typically get set to, but I did get a set and absolutely crammed it. It was very exciting,” he emphasized. By the end of the game, the scoreboard displayed nothing other than total domination. Exeter won with a score of 3 sets to none, steamrolling Choate in their second sweep of the Boars this season.
Now, playoff season has officially set in for Big Red, and the boys will head to the New England Tournament this Saturday at Northfield Mount Hermon. Going in as the number one seed and having not lost a game to another private school in two years, there is a lot of pressure to obtain the acclaimed “Three-peat” to maintain Exeter’s reputation in the league. Walker quickly discussed the team’s practice plan for the week. “We will be sharpening our overall skills for the playoffs next weekend,” he mentioned.
Delaney showed excitement when asked about what was going to be a new adventure at Northfield on Saturday. “It will be interesting for us [since] we have never played tournament style before. This means we will be playing multiple games in a single day.”
Although the team has only lost one set this entire season (against Andover), the boys are still feeling a little pressure going into the tournament. But, in Delaney’s eyes, “We will be playing the same teams that we have played before. So it shouldn’t be any trouble.”