On Monday, April 19th, the Quartz Hill boy’s volleyball team had their first game against rival school Highland. The game was eventful to say the least, as the Royals played a full five-set game against the Bulldogs. Captain Nolan Taflinger says, “That was quite the game that we played. It could’ve gone either way but I’m glad we walked away with the win.”

The game had a slow start for the Royals, which began with their first obstacle: the gym. The Royals played in Highland’s small gym which has a lower ceiling than what they were used to. This difference was noticeable from the warmups themselves, as the boys had a rough time adapting to the new setting, given that this was their first game. As the boys approached their first set, it was clear that they were unprepared for the game to come. After missing many serves and shanking many balls, the Royals seemed hopeless, as they couldn’t score points. Set one ended 25-11 to Highland. Outside hitter Tyler Rickert states, “The first set was rough, to say the least. It was pretty obvious that we weren’t prepared. We missed way too many serves and lacked energy and confidence in our plays.”

The second set was off to a much better start than the first. After the Royals quickly discussed what they needed to do to win the game, they approached set two with a different mindset. The change was evident as setter Chance Cox and Captain Nolan Taflinger took over the set, scoring many points from the service line and getting many kills. Senior Chance Cox stated, “We started to find our groove in the second set. There was still way too many errors made but considering our last set, it was pretty good that we were able to win the set 27-25.”

The third set went Highland’s way yet again. The Royals struggled to receive Highland’s serving, as the boys had very rough passing throughout the first half of the game. Two of Highland’s servers went on serving streaks of six to eight consecutive serves, which was devastating for the boy’s confidence and mentalities. As a result, they lost the third set 25-18.

The final two sets, however, were much better for the Royals. As they gained confidence and momentum in their serves and passes, it was clear that the boys had really stepped it up. After many serve streaks and strong passing from the boys, the Royals found success in the final two sets, winning 25-20 and 15-10 and winning the game 3-2.

Captain Nolan Taflinger states, “I can’t say I’m happy with our performance today but I’m happy that we got the win. We have a lot to work on but I’m confident that we can have a great season this year.” Congrats on the win and good luck for the rest of the season. Go Royals!