The 0–4 boys volleyball team suffered a tough loss to the Churchill Bulldogs despite a strong finish with a comeback during the third set.

The team started out slowly, scoring only nine points in the first set. However, as the game progressed the boys improved their play against the Bulldog’s strong offense, scoring 15 points in the second set.

The end of the game saw a dramatic improvement, with the Vikes holding a close lead for the majority of the third set. The team tightened its defense and improved its aim, and members communicated much better than they had previously.

“There was so much energy on the court which is something we’ve kind of been lacking,” setter Stefan Greenberg said. “It’s a new team so we’ve never really played together, we’re all kind of in our own little bubbles and yelling at each other. But at the end we really came together as a team.”

However, Churchill continued to demonstrate the skills shown in previous sets and was able to tie the score at 25. After minutes of tense play in which both teams were only able to lead by one point, the Bulldogs finally won the set 30-28.

Despite the disappointing loss, team members were thrilled with the improvement the game marked compared to previous ones this season.

“Today was one of the best games I’ve ever played: to get 28 points in one set, that’s more than we got in some full games last year,” Greenberg said. “It’s definitely an improvement, at the end the whole team really came together in a way I’ve never seen.”

Coach John Floyd says games like this are helping shape future successful seasons.

“If you look at the general body of work throughout the course of the season so far, we have gotten better every game. We want to make Whitman boys volleyball someone teams won’t automatically think is going to be a win,” Floyd said.

After spring break, the boys look to break their losing streak against the B-CC Barons at home April 14.