Whitman knocks out boys' v-ball

The boys' varsity volleyball team suffered a disappointing early end to its season as the Blazers lost their playoff opener to Walt Whitman High School 15-10, 13-15, 10-15. The twelfth-seeded Vikings upset the fifth-seeded Blazers to drop Blair's final record to 10-3.

The match started off as a tight struggle as both teams rallied back and forth, with neither one able to gain a substantial lead over the other. Eventually, the Blazers pulled ahead with an 8-2 lead. The Vikings nearly came back to tie the game, closing the deficit to 11-10, but the Blazers held on to win.

Whitman came back strong in the second game, using many hard hits to build an 8-0 advantage. The Blazers then staged a spirited comeback, going on a 13-6 run to pull within one point of the Vikings, before Whitman finally came away with the win. The game featured many long rallies, especially towards the end, when the Blazers cut away at the Vikings' lead.

The Blazers and Vikings started the third and final game in a back-and-forth battle, playing to a 6-6 standstill. Whitman slowly edged ahead 13-8, before senior hitter Michael Li brought the Blazers back in the game with several kills. The Blazers' comeback was stopped short however, as Whitman managed to eke out a close victory.

One scary incident occurred with the Vikings up 11-8 in the third game, when senior co-captain William Hwang went down hard with a calf muscle cramp while delivering a kill. He lay injured on the court for a couple of minutes but was eventually able to walk off. He returned to play after a short break. Hwang also battled a
lung infection throughout the match.

The entire match was a close, hard-fought contest. All three games ended in tight finishes. After the match, the Blazers were clearly disheartened, especially the seniors, for whom this game was their last at Blair.

Nonetheless, Blair enjoyed a successful regular season. The Blazers soared to a 10-2 regular season record, earning second in their division. Toward the end of the season, however, the Blazers encountered many obstacles. "Overall, the season was pretty satisfying," Hwang said. "We had high expectations going in, but we had a number of setbacks this year."

Such setbacks included a hamstring pull that plagued Hwang, which he suffered as a member of Blair's track team earlier this year. Li also missed two games due to an ankle injury.

Another impediment for the Blazers was the loss of senior hitter and co-captain Sang Ahn about three quarters of the way into the season. To fill the gap left by one of their key players, other Blazers, especially Hwang and senior hitter Robert Day, had to step up and carry more of the load.

However, Hwang said that the Blazers pulled together after losing Ahn. "The whole attitude shifted to a more winning mentality," he said.

The Blazers' first game without Ahn, against B-CC on May 5, would turn out to be one of their best performances of the season. "We were very productive, offensively and defensively," Hwang said.

Another key game for the Blazers came against Springbrook on May 7. Blair's first three-game match of the season would prove to be its toughest. "That was our hardest regular season game. We really fought for that one," said senior setter Daniel Kim. Hwang added, "It was probably our biggest learning experience of the season."

Kim said that this year's team improved significantly over last year's. "Everyone got better, especially [Ahn]," said Kim.
Li also noticed the team's progressive development over the course of the season. "We grew together as a team and began playing better as the season went on," Li said.

The Blazers will lose many senior players next year, but Hwang still believes the Blazers have a very bright future. "It will take a couple of years to rebuild, but some of the players right now definitely have potential," Hwang said.

As for this year's team, Hwang wishes the Blazers' situation could have been better in their playoff game against Whitman. "I really think we could have gone farther if the circumstances were better," Hwang said.