The Drake boys varsity volleyball team beat Tamalpais 3-0 at Tam on March 8, 2016. Tam is a young team but Drake has a lot of club experience. “I think we are young and that’s a respectable loss. I think it’s going to take time for the team to find their way,”Head Coach Jason Souza said. “There’s only nine kids with a lot of experience playing club and when you’re playing against teams with higher and more experience it’s a catch-up game.”
With a very young team against experienced players, Tam lost the first set 21-25. By Tam’s seventh point they were down 13 to Drake. Tam picked it up later in the game with close rallies bringing the game to a 19-22 trail. Drake fought hard but Tam was able to bring it to a close 21-23 with senior and Tam News Reporter Blake Killingsworth smashing his way into a two-point game. “Killingsworth is our senior and he’s one of our captains who is the nucleus of the team and we’re trying to make people pass to him,” Coach Souza said. “So the more we use him the stronger we are.” Drake held their position and eventually won with a strong offensive volley giving them the win.
With the second set, Tam volleyed back and forth with close, even scores. Drake then had two big hits and a couple slams bringing the game to 12-17. Drake won 25-18 bringing Tam to a 0-2 score in sets. Even though Tam had lost their second set, they took this as a learning experience. “I just want to take notes from each match and have take aways: what we can work on in practice the next day,” Coach Souza said. “Because I think with so many kids who are brand new to volleyball and they are seeing things they have never seen before like the center dumping or serving a way they never seen so i’m trying to take good notes.”
Tam is working hard on their form. “We try to maximize practices and we entered a tournament, the Drake tournament, which is a full day of matches so the more they play the better they can get,” Coach Souza said. With more experience in their pocket Tam is trying to boost their prowess in the MCAL community.
After the third set, Drake reeled in their final win bringing Tam to a loss of 0-3 with an exciting close game once more at 18-24. Even though they lost, Coach Souza took it as a win for the team in terms of experience, “So my prediction for the middle season is that things are going to become close,” he said.