By Sammie Spillman ’16

The boys’ volleyball team started out their season with a win against Poolesville in three sets but then lost to Clarksburg on March 24. The game went to five sets and the boys lost in the last set. When the team played Richard Montgomery on March 26 they started out strong beating them 25-11 in the first set but then fell apart thus losing the next three sets. The team beat Springbrook in three sets on March 28.

Coach Ben Sanger always has a positive outlook on the season. He selects the team so that they don’t ever have any down years, meaning he makes sure the team doesn’t get loaded with players from one class. At the beginning of the season the team sets not only short and long term goals but personal ones as well. A personal goal of Sangers would be to set the team up for success. He will do everything in his power to make sure the team is prepared for every opponent they face. “From the moment tryouts begin I always take mind of who is leading the team; which players are more vocal and stepping in to demonstrate drills. It’s a way to bring about your natural leaders. I use this as an aid when selecting my captains. It’s always tough when you lose some of the better players in the county. It’s very rewarding to see how far they have come since I first saw them as sophomores. Like I stated earlier though, I try and keep a balance every year so the team doesn’t have a big drop-off from season to season,” said Sanger.

On Monday March 31, the boys’ volleyball beat Paint Branch in three sets, though the Warriors didn’t play at the level they’re capable of playing at. Sanger says that in order to continue winning and to beat Magruder the team needs to step it up, which they did beating the Colonels on April 2 in three sets.

“We played really well; we converted what we did in practice into the game and we had a lot of intensity,” said junior Keegan Black. “You can tell all the guys are working hard, and we hope to keep improving our game.”