Following a ceremony to honor former coed volleyball coach Geoff Schaefer and his late wife Denise, the now 5–2 coed volleyball team won 3–1, defeating the 4–3 Magruder Colonels.

Before the game, coach Elizabeth Keating and Schaefer spoke to the crowd in Denise’s memory. She passed away last spring, and as a result, Schaefer has no longer been able to coach, despite his immense love for the team.

Denise was a counselor at Magruder, and the Schaefer family has touched both the Whitman and Magruder communities through their dedication and passion throughout the years.

“Thank you Geoff and Denise for being our friends, our teachers, and our mentors,” Keating said in her speech.

Members of both teams gathered for a group picture beforehand, and gifted Schaefer with a signed frame.

Despite his personal connections to Magruder, however, Schaefer was rooting for Whitman.

“He told us to demolish them,” Keating said.

After the ceremony, the game began with a close set, with the Vikings ultimately being defeated 25–23.

The team made huge improvements in the second, third and fourth sets, working on their movement and communication. The results were obvious, as they overpowered the Colonel’s defense 25–16, 25–12, and 25–13, respectively.

“I thought we had a weak first game, but we picked up and we were able to finish out the game pretty successfully,” outside hitter Michael Azimi said.

Keating said that taking advantage of their success could help to win future games in only three sets.

“We start out a bit slow in our first game; the first game has been traditionally sloppy for us,” she said. “I’d like to see us to work those kinks out so we don’t have to go to four games every time, but it seems like that’s what it takes for us; to get the kinks out the first game and then the next games they really played their game, they pulled it together and played together as a team.”

The Vikings look to pick up their sixth win of the season when they host the Springbook Blue Devils Monday.