WA Boys’ Varsity Volleyball came out victorious after their game on Friday, May 3 against Acton-Boxboro with the final score being 2-1. WA won the first set, 25-16, but struggled during the second set when Acton-Boxboro’s defense improved significantly which ended with the opposing team winning 19-25. WA struggled towards the beginning of set three but eventually caught up and pulled together for a 25-16 win.  

The game started off with Westford Academy securing the first point after Senior Timothy Loosigian’s strong spike. The score dragged to 10-1 as WA’s defense prevented Acton-Boxboro from gaining more than a point. Towards the middle of set one, Acton-Boxboro started attaining more points but not enough to catch up to Westford Academy.  Senior Maxwell Bradley and Senior Patrick Ward’s powerful blocks and defensive play brought the score to 24-16. Finally, Bradley’s spike brought set one to an end with Acton-Boxboro falling short by nine points.

Acton-Boxboro started strongly and scored the first point in set two. Senior Adam Scaramuzzo’s spike won WA’s its first point, bringing the score to 1-2. WA starting catching up when the score was at 2-8 and managed to bring it to 5-8 with a good three-point difference. Just when Westford Academy was catching up and saw hope for set two, Acton-Boxboro took the lead and reached a score of 5-13. WA’s defense was taken on mostly by Ward but that didn’t help the overall defense of the team.

Junior Aayush Purandare was brought into the game when the score reached 5-15 as a server. His strong serves caused Acton-Boxboro to go out-of-bounds three times in a row. Purandare helped WA increase the score to 10-15 but soon after, Acton-Boxboro started taking the lead again. There were many blocks by Ward and spikes by Scaramuzzo but that still didn’t help the difference in scores. Acton-Boxboro’s weak defense in set one changed distinctly during set two which is what helped them end set two with a 19-25 win.  

Set three also started off with Acton-Boxboro attaining the first point but WA soon took the lead but the score only differed by a few points towards the beginning of the set. Again, Ward’s blocks and the defense prevented Acton-Boxboro from catching up as WA gradually scored points. A serve that hit the net by Acton-Boxboro and WA’s strong defense ended in Westford Academy winning set three 25-16, and ultimately the entire game, 2-1.

Boys’ Volleyball Coach Alexi Bukuras mentioned the two-star players of the game, Ward and Scaramuzzo. After judging from the team’s win, she believes they have the potential of making it to the tournament.

“We as a team are extremely excited for that win. We still have the potential for the tournament now,” Bukuras said.