East’s junior varsity boys’ volleyball team was defeated in two sets, 15-25 and 18-25, after a hard-fought game against the Yorkville High School Foxes on Tuesday, Apr. 25.
The Wolves were coming off the defeat by their crosstown rivals, the Oswego Panthers, last Friday. Back on their home court, they hoped to turn things around.
The first set began with four points scored against the Wolves, who struggled defensively against Yorkville’s offense.
Sophomore Dylan Mudge said that the Wolves noticed some key elements that the team needs to practice.
“[We weren’t] covering deep corners, or we weren’t covering close blocks.” Mudge said. “We will probably work on covering for our right side hitters and middle backs.”
As the Foxes continued to score, the Wolves finished the first set 10 points behind the Foxes, with a score of 15-25.
As the second set began, the Wolves were still fighting, but found themselves losing 18-25.
Head coach Dina Beamon said that the boys lacked some of that fighting spirit after the first set loss.
“We look defeated already,” Beamon said. “We were fighting, we were there, it wasn’t a significant difference in score, however, I think it being our home court, we should’ve fought a little bit harder.”
In the final moments of the game, however, junior and starting outside hitter Tyler Vlcek injured his ankle while playing, leaving him temporarily out of games.
Vlcek said he appreciated the support from his teammates, even through a hard loss.
“I appreciate sportsmanship from my teammates. I liked how we all tried to lift each other up when things were down and when we were losing,” Vlcek said.
Without a starting outside hitter, this leaves Beamon in a unique position, trying to find a new lineup that is best for the team.
“I look forward to other players getting the opportunity to play in places they haven’t played in before, and just seeing what they can do,” Beamon said.
The Wolves will again take to their home court as they play Hinsdale South on Monday, May 1.
Jackson Wezeman is a staff editor for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl