The Varsity Boys’ Volleyball Poudre School District Stars played Denver East on March 8, crushing their opponents in only three sets for the first win of the season.
“We have just tried to focus down on small goals… today we were focusing on our blocking, we were focusing on our middle attacks,” Coach Chris Savage said. “I’m confident, I’m feeling good about how the outlook is for the season.”
Starting strong, the Stars won the first two points and only extended their lead.
Once the score got to 11-5, Denver East called a timeout. However, it did not make a difference as the Stars got a five-point run, during which Alex Van Thuyne got a service ace.
Denver East called another timeout at 23-10, but they only managed to gain back one point before the first set ended at 25-11.
At the beginning of the second set, the Stars came out strong yet Denver East closed the gap, bringing the score 9-9
The game remained tight, neither team pulling ahead, the score 15-15.
The Stars, wanting to get away, got four points in a row, causing Denver East to call a timeout.
This timeout was more successful as Denver East got four points in a row, tying the set at 19-19. The Stars took a timeout but could not lengthen the point gap, leading to Denver East overtaking them at 20-21. The Stars then took another timeout.
After trading a few more points, at 22-22, the Stars subbed in Dylan Smith as a pinch server. With this, the Stars received two more points before Denver East could call a timeout.
With the Stars blocks and hard-driven spikes, they did not let Denver East get ahead again, and the second set ended with the Stars as victors at 25-23.
During the third set, the two teams stayed within two points of each other until the score reached 13-13 where the Stars pulled ahead with five points in a row.
Denver East called a timeout but can not close the gap. The Stars ended the third set at 25-19, sweeping Denver East, making them the victors of the night.
“As a system, we were doing good passing, setting, and hitting,” Alex Van Thuyne said. “We played as a team this time.”