Continuing to dominate their season, WA Girls’ Volleyball defeated Waltham High School on Monday, Sept. 15 in a 3-0 match. The away game established a 5-0 season record for the team and solidified their second DCL win this year.
“This is our second DCL match-up and it was our second win, so I think [our goal is] just playing more DCL teams and capturing more wins to hopefully go far in the DCL and the rest of the season,” senior captain Kaitlyn Pepin said.
At the opening of the first set, Waltham struggled to receive the Ghosts’ hits. A majority of the rallies only lasted a few seconds, and halfway through the set, WA upheld a safe 15-4 lead. Meanwhile, at the net, key players such as Pepin and sophomore Clara Ganz continued to nail hard spikes to the back-court.
Despite occasionally struggling to stay in bounds, the Ghosts maintained a high morale on and off the court. After senior captain Norah Schweitzer hit a back row attack, Pepin scored the final point with a steady block at the net. With little pushback, WA was able to win the first set of the game 25-11.
By the second set, Waltham started to gain their footing in the game, putting up a stronger offensive attack. Yet, WA never let their lead slip. Ganz and Schweitzer continued to hold up the front line, alongside junior Anna Fernandez who planted multiple hits from left-court.
The rallies lengthened slightly in time, but WA kept ahead of their opponents 15-8. Simultaneously, senior captain Shalynn Shrestha and sophomore Aanya Surampidi matched Waltham’s persistent blocks with versatile defense on the back line. WA then won the second set 25-16, taking a 2-0 set lead.
By the third set, the Ghosts’ initial energy had started to slip, leading to a tighter lead of 5-4 as both teams struggled to receive the ball.
“I would say our energy was pretty low throughout the whole entire game, so if we had bumped that up a little bit, I think we could’ve won with a greater lead,” Shrestha said.
As the rallies intensified, senior Lia Clancy gave Pepin and other hitters’ consistent sets that allowed for hard spikes to recover. Nearing the end of the set, a WA player suffered an injury after a jumble at the net, but the team managed to push through and recenter their focus. After an uncontrolled bump by Waltham, WA won the third and final set 25-14, officially winning the game 3-0.
Although the match ended favorably for WA, head coach Brandon Eang expressed his hopes for the team to be more precise on the court and maximize their potential. According to Eang, this will better prepare the team for matches more competitive than their face-off against Waltham.
“We practice very, very rigorously, and we try to eliminate any hand course errors. Tonight we [had] a few of those, and that’s not what we want to do,” Eang said. “We want to clean that up a little bit, because once we hit the DCL route, it’s going to be very, very tough and we want to prepare [the team’s] primal self with that road.”
Despite these setbacks, the captains express pride in their record and a willingness to continue improving throughout the season.
“I feel like we were doing a really good job on our setting and our offense,” Schweitzer said. “Our defense was also doing a really good job covering the ball, and we were also super aggressive at the net.”
The Ghosts’ next game will be at WA on Monday, Sept. 22 at 5:15 p.m. against Tewksbury Memorial High School.
