The UHS Boys’ Volleyball team was defeated by the Woodbridge Warriors 1-3 in a league match at home on April 14.
The game consisted of four sets. In the first set, the score stayed close as both teams fought hard, but ultimately the Warriors edged out the Trojans to win the set 25-21. Senior Luke McHenry reflected on the impact the first set had on the Trojans’ mindset for the rest of the game.
“After the loss in the first set, the setback affected the team not in a negative way but in a positive way,” McHenry said. “It made the team want to give a 110% on the court to try to beat our crosstown rivals, so if anything, the loss in the first set fired us up.”
In the second set, the Trojans looked to capitalize on missed opportunities. Both teams went back and forth, preventing their opponent from going on any long scoring runs. In the end, the Warriors took the set 25-23, putting them one set away from winning the game.
“Losing the first two sets was a wake-up call for us,” junior Brian Nguyen said. “Especially since we swept them at their home, when we realized that we were already down two sets, we had no other choice but to dial in for the third.”
The momentum shifted in the third set as the Trojans started executing on their game plan. By preventing self-inflicted mistakes, the Trojans won the set 25-18, leaving them down only one set in the game. Nguyen was one of the key players for the Trojans in this set due to the many point-saving plays he made. The Trojans attribute their win in the third set to making the necessary adjustments they had noticed from earlier in the game.
“We had been lacking in serve, receive and shot selection with our hits in the first set, so for the third, we wanted to clean those up,” senior Sebastian Moaleji said. “Additionally, we were lacking in blocking coverage, so in the third set, we adjusted better to the other hitters by moving our block.”
Going into the fourth set, tensions were high as the Warriors looked to close out the game while the Trojans hoped to equalize the score. Just as in previous sets, both teams looked evenly matched, consistently staying within a few points of each other. However, the Warriors pulled away at the last moment, winning the set 25-23 and the game three sets to one. The Trojans intend to utilize this loss to their rivals as motivation going forward and as an opportunity to improve as a team.
“This was one of the games that we needed if we wanted to lock in a spot in CIF,” Nguyen said. “However, during practice the day after the heartbreaking loss, we discussed our performance and room for improvement.”
The Trojans played their last game of the season on April 21 against the Sage Hill Lightning. They hope to come back stronger and make a deep CIF run next year.
