WA Girls’ Volleyball beat Boston Latin School (BLS) in a nail-biting 3-1 game on Wednesday, Sep. 10. The match brought WA to a season record of 4-0, allowing them to continue their winning streak.
The game lasted for four sets during which WA demonstrated exemplary blocks and spikes. The team consistently asserted themselves throughout the entirety of the game by staying determined and competitive no matter how long the sets went.
“I think we really kept competing with them even when we were down [in points],” senior captain Norah Schweitzer said. “We continued to be aggressive on the offense and defense.”
According to senior captain Shalynn Shrestha, BLS arrived a lot later than expected. The resulting extended warm up tired them out before the game had even begun. However, Shrestha credits her team for the relentless focus and energy they brought to the game despite the inconvenience.
“I think the key thing our team did [to win] was keeping the energy as high as possible,” Shrestha said.
As the first set began, BLS quickly took the lead by gaining the first point of the game. In spite of this, WA wasted no time in tying the score. The game stayed in a tie as the teams exchanged the first few points until junior Anna Fernandez was able to make a diving save and bring WA to the lead with a score of 5-4.
After gaining this upper hand, WA was able to keep a significant lead against BLS with key tactics, such as Schweitzer’s powerful spikes at the net and senior Lia Clancy’s tactful setting. When WA was able to advance to an eight point lead, BLS called a timeout. Despite this, WA still finished the first set victorious, with a with a final score of 25-20.
Set two began similarly to the first set, with BLS taking an immediate lead, and quickly bringing the score to 6-2. However, this set was a much closer match than the previous one, with both teams going back and forth for the lead. This was a continuous pattern until the set was almost at its end, and the teams were tied with a score of 21-21. At this point, WA managed to pull ahead with the help of senior captain Kaitlyn Pepin’s blocks.
“I was really happy with my blocks on their aggressive middle hitter and my ability to hit around her,” Pepin said.
As the set came to an end, BLS stayed stationary at 21 points, while WA powered through and won the round with a final score of 25-21.
Both the third and fourth sets passed by quickly. Set three was filled with instances of BLS taking the lead in points. According to Shrestha, it was difficult to keep energy up throughout the whole game, which resulted in their weaker defensive moments. The hitters and setters stayed strong, despite the set ending with a 25-19 win for BLS.
Nevertheless, WA had their comeback during the next set. By the middle of the fourth set, the Ghosts had taken a significant lead with a score of 17-9. This advanced to a ten point lead of 22-12. By this point, BLS called a timeout, but they were not able to catch up. With a failed serve from BLS, WA got the final point they needed to secure the win.
“Our communication was a big thing about our win as it helped us play together and not only think about our own plays,” Shrestha said.
In the future, according to Shrestha and senior Kaelyn D’Eon, WA plans to work on improving upon their communication on and off the court in order to keep their winning streak up, and make it to the Dual County League Championship (DCLs).
“Volleyball is a sport of mentality and trust and it is really important to play together,” Shrestha said. “I think all of our players are strong individually and I think that if we work together we can go really far this season.”
WA will play their next game at Waltham High School on Monday, Sept 15, at 5:30 p.m.
