West Potomac spikes the ball with authority over the net, but luckily Sean McCuin, the libero, is there to save the point. He passes the ball to the setter who sends it to the right side for Luke Hawn as a trick play. Hawn leaps into the air and sends the ball straight to the floor to win the second set.
The Alexandria City Highschool (ACHS) boys volleyball team is a joint team between ACHS and Hayfield Secondary School. Practices started back in early September and many of the athletes who joined were just interested in trying a new sport.
The basic rules of volleyball are this: six players on each team, the first team to reach 25 points by at least two points wins a set, and the first team to win the best 2-out-of-3 sets wins the game. When the ball crosses the net, the team is allowed three hits to send it back across the net. If the ball hits the floor the opposing team scores. This may sound like an easy task, but Luke Hawn, who plays right side, explains that’s not the case.
“It’s a fast-paced game [and] you have to rely heavily on your teammates,” Senior Luke Hawn said.
Sean McCuin plays libero and setter, both of which are considered the most difficult positions to play. He describes the setter as the “quarterback of the team, they do the play calling and run the offense.” Whereas libero is the defensive specialist of the team and Sean expresses the difficulty of the position mainly lies in “predicting, and understanding where the ball is going to be.”
Although they’re from different schools, it doesn’t stop them from getting the job done. Right side Jacob Kalainoff reveals to us that there’s no sense of division between the two schools and that “ [they] mesh really well and it’s like we’re one big group.”
Hawn mentions that one of his favorite parts about the team is “how hype it is, once someone gets a good hit everyone starts yelling and cheering, “ and that “it’s fun to encourage each other and get excited because you have to keep the energy up to play well.”
The team encourages students to come to their games because not only are they free, but you can also support your fellow hawks.
You can find more information about the men’s volleyball on Instagram at “thecityboysvb” and “hawkstitansvb.” If you’re interested in playing men’s volleyball but don’t want to commit to a team yet, there’s an event hosted by the Hayfield’s women’s volleyball team in the spring called Ironman in which the different classes face off against each other in one big volleyball tournament.