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The Winchester High boys volleyball team is perfect after four matches. They have already defeated Arlington (3-2), Woburn (3-0), Newton South (3-2) and Burlington (3-0).
The Red & Black’s most recent matches were against Newton South (April 7) and Burlington (April 8).
“We were able to pull off a tight first set (25-23) against Newton South, and then played even better in the second set (25-16),” said coach John Fleming. “We played from behind in the third set, before tying things up at 17. However, after that, we couldn't find a way to pull off any more wins in the set. Newton South was then able to take that momentum and pull away from us in the fourth set, and also started fast in the fifth set to go up 7-3, before we closed the gap to 8-5 after switching sides. At that point, our guys really showed some grit down the stretch, and were able to step up to go on a 10-3 run to win the match.”
Haoran Jiang collected two aces 24 assists to help lead his teammates to victory against the Lions. David You was credited with 27 assists.
Ethan Lubomirski was terrific in serves received (45/47 receptions) and serves that put the pressure on Newton South, particularly late in the match, according to Fleming.
Tuto Sampaio came up with 18 kills, and Julien He had 17, while hitting at a .333 pace in the Newton South match. Bryan Jiang, no relation to Haoran, produced 14 kills. He hit at an incredible .565 percentage.
Against Burlington, the entire Winchester roster was able to get plenty of opportunities on the court. “It was great to see a bunch of players coming in and making plays to keep on playing at a high level after the starters left the match,” said Fleming. “I thought Ben Yu did a nice job passing and serving against Burlington. Justin Reno and Jefferson Li also both had a few nice swings. It was good to see our depth continue to show growth.”
The Red & Black have since gone up against host Lexington to close out another week on April 10. They will then welcome Chelmsford to the McCall Middle School Fieldhouse on April 16 for a 5:15 p.m. matchup, before heading to Wakefield to go up against the Warriors the next day at the same time.
