On Tuesday, March 2, the MSD men’s varsity volleyball team faced off against the Cardinal Gibbons High School Chiefs. This was expected to be a tough first game of the season for the Eagles, as the opposing Chiefs made it to the state championship quarterfinals last year.

In general, playing against a team with the skill and talent of the Chiefs is tough. It gets even tougher when there are a bunch of new faces on the court for the first time.

“A lot of the people [at MSD] haven’t played before, and you can get really nervous [in the game], but I think they held it down pretty well,” right-side hitter/center Tom Hefner (11) said.

The game did not start out as the Eagles wanted. The Eagles were down 7-1 right off the bat in the first set. Shortly after, the Eagles came back and were only down three points with a score of 14-11.

However, the teamwork and power from the Chiefs was unstoppable and the Eagles struggled to return shots. This blew the Eagle’s comeback as Cardinal Gibbons won the next 11 out of 13 points and took the first set with a score of 25-13.

“The team worked as hard as they could, we just faced a better team than us,” libero Jayce Perkins (22) said. “They had more technique and experienced players than us.”

Following the first few points in the second set, the Eagles found some rhythm after they were down 15-10 after a horrible start. MSD was starting to make defensive saves and serves that Cardinals Gibbons was unable to stop.

“I’m not usually good at serving, but today was different,” Hefner said. “I get really antsy in the background [but] I was able to keep myself confident.”

After it seemed like the Eagles had figured out their game, the Chiefs played even better. Cardinal Gibbons was hitting shots that MSD could not handle. The Chiefs ended up winning the second set with a score of 25-16 and were up two sets to zero.

“We have to keep ourselves in the game, play smart and play volleyball,” outside hitter Santiago Gerardi (10) said.

The third set of the game did not start well for the Eagles, as they lost the first five points. However, they changed their game and were only down 11-8 after a bad start.

The comeback for the Eagles died down once again as the Chiefs won seven points in a row and eventually closed out the game. The third, and final set of the game, ended with a score of 25-12 in favor of Cardinal Gibbons.

“We have to stop arguing with each other in the middle of the game and focus on the next game,” middle blocker Ricardo Mendonca Neto (33). “We need to get better for our next game.”

The Eagles play their next game on Wednesday, March 9, at home against Charles W. Flanagan High School. The Eagles hope to win their first game of the season and start 1-1.