The boys volleyball team rounded out their regular season with five more match wins, finishing undefeated and winning the division. The team is headed to the playoffs in a couple of weeks as the number one seed, and the team is eager to retake the county title.
In their toughest matchup of the season, WJ faced off against Churchill, narrowly beating them 3-2, taking revenge . While Churchill Bulldogs took an early lead, taking the first set 25-19, WJ came back in the third set, taking it 25-21, only for Bulldogs to again take the lead, winning the third set. With a consolidated effort in the fourth set to take the game to a fifth set, WJ was able to pull out the win 15-4 in the fifth set.
In later matches in the regular season, the team easily handled top rival, BCC High School, defeating them 3-0 and also notched wins against Whitman, Magruder and Sherwood. In total, the boys finished the season with a record of 33 sets won and only 4 given up.
At their final regular season game against Sherwood high school on Apr. 26, the boys also celebrated senior night for the team’s senior Luke Myers.
“I am very proud of the team. Before the season started, during tryouts and during the scrimmages, I really didn’t know how good we would be. After beating RM, Wootton and Churchill, I think it was clear that we would have a chance to be undefeated and compete for a county title,” volleyball head coach Brian Fairall said.
Again the boys attribute the strong team chemistry to their strong performance.
“The team just has really good chemistry and we work really well together with all of the different skills that each player has,” team captain and junior Seba Sani said.
Freshman starter Laurick Razafimandimby agreed with Sani.
“The team is like a second family to me and they all had my back when I was at my lowest. The main key to being undefeated was really forming a bond together and communicating. When a player is feeling down we try to make them feel better,” Razafimandimby said.
Of the 25 teams in Montgomery County, 16 made the playoffs. WJ, as the number one seed, are heavily favored to win the county championship, but along the way, will face multiple tough opponents.
“I think we have a fair shot at winning the playoffs if we really work hard. There are going to be many good teams in the playoffs, most looking for revenge and we’re looking forward to it,” Razafimandimby said.
Many teams WJ has not yet faced this season will be ready to put up a fight against WJ. Fairall specifically mentioned Churchill, Blair and Wootton HS as possible challenges in the playoffs.
Should WJ advance to the final of the playoff, they will face off number two seed and rival Clarksburg HS. Clarksburg is the defending county champion, and beat WJ in the playoff semifinals in a close five set match last year. The team is looking to go all the way this year and will play their first playoff match against 16th seed Gaithersburg HS at WJ on Monday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m.
