On Friday, April 18, the Archie Williams boys junior varsity volleyball team played a non-league game against the San Rafael High School Bulldogs. Despite a challenging start, the Falcons displayed great determination throughout the match. They secured a 3-1 victory by closing out the match in the fourth set.

The Bulldogs served first, gaining the first point. The Falcons did not get off to the start they wanted, as the Bulldogs scored early, and the set saw multiple ties. With key assists from freshman setter Nash Freeman, consecutive successful serves from freshman right-side hitter Charlie Kreinberg, and powerful spikes by freshman middle-hitter Skye Hermans and freshman middle-hitter Henry Hirsch, the Falcons won the first set with the score 27-25.

The second set started with the Falcons serving first, exchanging spikes and bumps with the Bulldogs and earning supportive cheers and applause from the stands. 

“I think all of our serving has gotten a lot better since the start of the set, and we can still improve by communicating more. We did our best in the second set because most of the passes… were on point,” Nash said. 

Despite multiple out-of-bounds hits, short serves, and ties, the Falcons bounced back with attentive defense from Henry, clean floats from freshman right-side Keenan Clarke, and spikes from junior outside-hitter Jack Avela, winning the second set 25-22.

Keenan began the third set with another float serve, putting the Falcons up. Despite defensive success and back-and-forth play over the net, the Bulldogs overcame the Falcons and took the set 17-25.

“Our team has improved over the last couple games, and it was great to see everyone happy the whole game. I like to be loud and get everyone hyped up and excited,” Keenan said.

The Falcons dominated the fourth set, taking an overwhelming lead and widening the score gap. With support from the bleachers and many successful serves from freshman defensive specialist Hudson Reichow, the Falcons dominated the fourth set with a score of 25-11.

“I think our last set was [our] best. I’d like to shout Hudson for finishing out in the end with all those great serves. I think our coaches’ support was everything, him showing up every day to practice and all the games,” Henry said. 

“They played amazingly, picking up every ball, and it was super encouraging to see everyone flow into a good groove with every single player around them… I’m not outcome-oriented, I don’t care if we win the league or if we get second or third, I want them to improve internally as a team and grow,” said head coach Alex Perelson.