Blair boys’ volleyball secures win over Northwest Jaguars

Huddle

Photo: The Blazers gather in a huddle prior to their victory over Northwest.

The Blazers gather in a huddle prior to their victory over Northwest. Photo courtesy of Katie Phung.

On April 27, the Blair Blazers Boys volleyball (8-0) beat the Northwest Jaguars (3-7) in an impressive and intense 3-0 match. After a slow start in the first set, the game soon after accelerated with energy as the Blazers fought hard for the remainder of the game. 

After the Jaguars served at the start of the first set, Blair failed to communicate effectively and handed Northwest the first point. Fortunately, freshman outside hitter Jason Liang calmed the tension with an impressive corner kill from the back row. 

The set continued with more communication errors from the Blazers, giving Northwest a 6-9 advantage over Blair. The Blazers eventually locked in with their offense, led by senior captain outside hitter Bill Nguyen and junior middle blocker Evan Wang getting kills from the middle position. The Blazers and Jaguars were neck-and-neck at 9-10. 

Throughout the set, Northwest’s offense proved to be a challenge for the Blazers as their hitters were able to choose tough spots on the court for the Blazers to defend. The Jaguars maintained their gradual lead until their offense began to make more hitting errors, which the Blazers took advantage of by staying on their toes to cover for defense.

After more Northwest’s hitting errors and a kill from Nguyen, the Blazers were now tied with the Jaguars at 21-21. After an overpass from the Jaguars, senior middle blocker Silas White sent it back over with a powerful block. As the Northwest offense stayed shaky, the Blazers successfully came back and won the first set 25-21. 

The Blazers began the second set by shutting down the Jaguars with Nguyen sending a powerful kill to Northwest's side of the court. Continuous successful hits by Blair’s offense gave them an exciting 7-0 lead. 

Despite hitting errors from Blair’s side, Wang succeeded with two blocks against Northwest’s offense. This maintained a 15-8 Blair lead. The Blazers improved their defense with dimes by sophomore defensive specialist Jonah Chopra-Khan and digs by sophomore libero Ricky Ye.

Senior opposite hitter Newton Leas sent a slow push over the net to the Jaguars, successfully slowing down their defense. Blair’s front row continued taking advantage of Northwest’s shaky defense as they consistently hit through their blocks which gave the Blazers the upperhand. 

With a smart tip from senior outside hitter Shahid Mahrami, Blair won the second set. The game was at 25-18 in Blair's favor. 

Northwest served to kick off the third set, winning the first point. Technical errors slowly put a strain on the Jaguars’ offense, tying the two teams at 4-4. This was slowly followed by an intense rally on both sides, Nguyen saved a shank from Blair’s side which gave Blazers the point. 

Blair’s offense continued to be sufficient all throughout the set, with Liang tipping the ball right against the net, falling extremely short which took Northwest’s backrow aback. Multiple successful plays from hitters all throughout different positions on the court truly was Blair’s strong suit during this set. Northwest called a timeout at 23-12 to try to get themselves back into their previous momentum.  

Shortly after, Leas ended the game with a tricky tip kill, winning the third set at 25-14. The Blazers had defeated the Jaguars in three straight sets. 

Looking back after the hard-fought win, Nguyen stressed about how much room for improvement the Blazers have. “I’m happy about our win but we still have a lot to work on. Even though we were making a lot of errors at first, we picked it up and secured the win at the end. We need to work on our consistency and playing at our best throughout the whole game.”