Boys’ Volleyball Bests Choate

By: Hannah Park, Alaysha Zhang

The boy’s varsity volleyball team crushed Choate Rosemary Hall in a 3-1 game two weeks ago, adding a fifth win to their streak. Their perseverance and teamwork led to constant victories this season, with a highlight of the season being the home game win against Andover last month. 

For upper Kenny Chen, this game was his first this year due to an injury early on in the season. “We played a lot better than Choate during that game. Everyone played into their roles and successfully fulfilled their duties,” Chen said. 

The team has an overall very supportive dynamic, with teammates who always cheer each other during and outside of games. Upper Paolo Belfiore called out senior Chris Antosiewicz for “being a catalyst for us to get us going and into a flow,” and senior Charlie Thibault and upper Heewoo Jung for “always being solid and doing their part.”

Horrigan continued, shouting out Antosiewicz as well. “I would be afraid to stand on the other side of the net if I were the Choate kids.” 

“Charlie and Heewoo were everywhere, getting great saves,” Horrigan added. 

Antosiewicz commented on how their usual practice had paid off during the game, “I think we've really started to be able to play as a team and that's great. And I think everybody started to be really solid and that's great because when we have all four options to hit from it's good.”  

Antosiewicz went on to say, “I think that as per usual, we kind of let momentum slip a little bit in the middle of the Choate game. I think that just happened a little bit, but we were able to pick our heads up and we ended up winning.”

“Olisa went off on the last set,” Chen added. “We played a lot better than Choate during that game. Everyone played into their roles and successfully fulfilled their duties. The whole team made a consistent effort throughout the game. It was a long ride to Choate, so there was no way that we were going to lose there.”

“At that point in the season, it was going well,” Horrigan said, highlighting their home game win against Andover. “Getting that work done at home… we had a really good atmosphere in the crowd.”

The team was undefeated this season until last Wednesday when they lost against Andover in an away game. Antosiewicz reflected on the game against Andover. “Well at the start we were on a long winning streak. So, uh, we were doing pretty well. I think we had our confidence and beat andover in the first set. We played them in a four set series. So that was a tough game for us. We lost the last set, and game to them. And I think that's just given us a little bit of a reminder to have a good work ethic. So I think we're working extra hard in practice now.” 

Despite the loss against Andover, players remain optimistic about future games. “I think we've been working hard all season, but I think now we got a special kind of drive, so that's good,” Antosiewicz said.

“We are 5-1 on the season and need to regroup to prepare for the Class A tournament,” Chen said. “Next Saturday we host the class A tournament, and hopefully we can bring home the NE championship again.”