Story by Elia Song
Staff Writer

Photo by Helena Easterby
Photography Editor

Boys volleyball faced the Blair Vikings on Thursday, March 26, and won 3–0. The Tigers displayed amazing offense and coordination, backed by dependable defense, even though the typical starters were not on the court.

While the Vikings took the first point of the game, the Tigers clearly had the upper hand, demonstrating superior communication, experience, and ball control, bringing out their full offense. After a short 20 minutes, the Tigers packed up the Vikings with a final score of 25–17, having given the Vikings most of their points through errors or faults.

The second set began with the Tigers receiving, and the first point was granted to the Tigers when sophomore Jae Chung smashed the volleyball down to the floor, blowing past the Viking’s attempted block. Despite only being the second set, energy was blatantly absent from the sparsely packed stands, but more importantly from the Vikings themselves. Between walking back after receiving serves or trying to block spikes with their feet, the Vikings appeared to be mentally checked out. After an uneventful period, the second set concluded with another Tiger win, 25–12, so the Viking’s last chance to come back would be in the third set.

The third set was a lot more eventful, as both teams went back and forth between scores. The Vikings made contact with the ball, and hit it down to the Tigers’ side of the court, granting the Vikings a point, 1–0. Both teams tied several times early on in the set, at 3–3, 4–4, and 5–5, but the Vikings broke away first. Backed by a notably more aggressive offense with powerful spikes and several errors on the Tigers’ part, the Vikings led 12–8 halfway through the set.

Although the Vikings had given it their all, the Tigers’ excellent strategic plays continued to wear down the Vikings’ already unorganized defense, until the Vikings’ run was put to an end. After shortly catching up at 12–12, the Tigers held the lead for the rest of the set. Their strategy varied from consistent powerful hits by players like sophomore outside hitter Evan Chang, to significant saves that kept the rallies going, allowing the Tigers to hold onto their lead at 24–22. In the end, a powerful spike by sophomore Kyle Choi, a usual JV player subbed in for the game, claimed the third and final set 25–22, blowing past the Vikings with a 3–0 victory.

“We were a little frustrated [once Blair started to come back]. It’s just a little hiccup that we had. We got our heads back up. Coach talked to us, [so that definitely] kept the energy up the whole time so that we wouldn’t lose momentum,” Choi said.

The Tigers will face the Temple City Rams at Temple City High School on Tuesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m.