In their tenth game of the season, WA Girls’ Volleyball lost a close match to Boston Latin School at home on Tuesday, October 3 with a final score of 3-1 in a 4-set match.
WA began the first set focused as the team maintained a rally with Boston Latin, but soon began struggling with defense. Boston Latin continued their streak with two more shots before WA was able to tip the ball over the net and score their first point of the match.
As the first set continued, WA was able to execute an attack and land the ball in an undefended area of the court, scoring their second point. However, after Boston Latin was able to extend their lead to 5-2, head coach Brandon Eang called a timeout early in the first set to establish a better game plan.
Despite the timeout, WA was unable to pull ahead of Boston Latin as they executed a series of bumps and spikes to increase the score to 16-8. Even so, middle hitters sophomore Nora Schweitzer and senior captain Jocelyn Vogel were able to prevent additional kills with their blocking and tipping, while junior libero Navya Balineni’s digs kept the ball in play.
WA’s communication and offense improved as the first set neared its end but was still not up to par with Boston Latin’s offense and wide coverage of the court. Both teams struggled when covering their front corners and executing digs. Nevertheless, WA made some good plays including Schweitzer tipping the ball to score a point for WA and junior outside hitter Sophie Krauss spiking the ball to earn another point. Boston Latin was also able to increase their point lead and won the set with a score of 25-13.
Going into the second set, WA immediately displayed signs of better communication with improved passing and a tip that earned them the first point. Sophomore setter Lia Clancy facilitated the passes and ensured the ball made it to the other side of the court.
“Lia did a really good job with setting,” assistant coach Bill Bowen said. “When a setter has a good game, no one notices. She had a really good game.”
WA’s spikes grew closer to the boundary lines which resulted in occasional out-of-bound hits but also led to the scoring of two points early in the second set. Boston Latin also continued to land hits out of bounds and serve into the net which led to a score of 15-13 with Boston Latin barely ahead. They were able to fire more fast spikes towards the end of the second set while WA struggled to make it to the ball in time, resulting in Boston Latin winning the second set with a score of 25-16.
During the third set, Boston Latin made more out-of-bound hits and serves while WA’s attacks became more focused and aggressive, allowing WA to take the lead of 12-9. As the third set progressed, WA’s blocking and tipping allowed them to rack up more points. However, Boston Latin took advantage of gaps in WA’s back defense and regained their lead with a flurry of spikes.
“[I want to improve] my blocking timing,” Schweitzer said. “I think there were a lot of balls where I was almost there, but not quite at the right time.”
The two teams rallied on and off, but due to WA’s continued attacks and Boston Latin’s unfocused returns, WA managed to get back in the lead with a score of 23-20.
Anticipation rose in the stands as the teams remained neck and neck. With the score at 23-22, Boston Latin was unable to send the ball over the net, furthering WA’s lead to 24-22. WA returned a Boston Latin serve with a spike and Boston Latin was able to send it back, but a quick tip over the net allowed WA to win the third set with a score of 25-22.
In the fourth set, WA and Boston Latin exchanged points but WA was able to pull ahead with a score of 12-11 due to a few spikes and a backwards dig from Balineni. Neither team gained a huge lead throughout the entire set and with a successful spike from WA, the score was brought to 25-25.
The teams continued to trade off points until the score reached 27-27, at which point WA hit the ball out of bounds and then was unable to return a spike from Boston Latin, concluding the fourth set with a score of 29-27, and leaving Boston Latin as the narrow victor.
Balineni acknowledged that WA continued with their strong and aggressive plays until the very end, but faltered slightly during the last points of the fourth set.
“We had a good fight today because we came close to one of the top teams,” Balineni said. “I think we should be proud of that. […] We always get to the last fourth or fifth set and then we get in our heads, but we have faith. We have two more games. Hopefully we’ll get them.”
WA Girls’ Volleyball’s next match will be an away game against Bedford High School on Friday, October 6 at 5:30 pm.
