Thursday evening, the RM boys volleyball team won their second game of the season against the Watkins Mill Werewolves. The boys swept their opponents and took an easy 3-0 victory.
The first set of the game ended in a loss for the Werewolves and a landslide of a win for the RM boys. Although Watkins Mill had the first serve, they weren’t able to keep it for long. They made plenty of mistakes and soon enough, the Rockets had the upperhand.
Sophomore Joshua Yu played a huge role in the first set’s win. After the Werewolves hit the ball out, Yu stepped up to serve. He continued to serve a total of six times as he and the rest of his team continued to dominate, relying on their team coordination and the other team’s frequent mistakes.
“We have an exceedingly strong offense, with our tall and experienced hitters like Jack English and Eli Horn,” Yu said. “[So, we capitalized] on the other team’s mistakes and holes in defense to gain points for us.”
Sure enough, the RM boys didn’t disappoint. After Yu served, the score was 3-9. Watkins Mill only gained three more points before the first set ended in a 6-25 win and the Rockets started the next set with confidence.
In the second set, Watkins Mill only did slightly better. RM put up an extremely strong defense and offense as well as an impressive block from sophomore Lucas Frassrand that left the opposing team stunned and helpless.
Similar to the first set, RM earned multiple points in a row before the other team was able to score a single one. At the end, Frassrand served several times and ended the second set on an ace, earning RM the 10-25 win.
However, the Rockets did not fare as well in the third set as they did on the first two. “We made many careless mistakes we shouldn’t have,” freshman Jonah Chuang explained.
The Werewolves seized the opportunity and earned seven points in a row before the Rockets stepped up their game. There was a shift in momentum, with the Rockets responding back with more of a fight.
RM served incredible aces and consecutively earned points, putting them back in the lead. Their performed almost flawlessly and quickly gained control over the game.
Although Watkins Mill put up a good fight in the third set with a few effective hits that went through, it was not enough for them to win. RM continued to rely on their powerful attacks and won the final set 16-25.
RM may have won against Watkins Mill, but they will face many more teams in the future. This Monday, they’ll be playing against a much more challenging team: Blair. However, they remain hopeful that they’ll be able to continue winning and emerge victorious from the match.
“Even though we lost a really good hitter and setter from last year (they were seniors), our current offense is still really strong and not many teams can really do much against it when we’re doing well,” Yu said. “Blair should be a bit more challenging but we should still be able to win.”
Featured photo by Grace Zhou.
