RHS students narrowly defeated the visiting Randolph Township Police, 2-1, in a friendly volleyball scrimmage that was held in the Main Gym during unit lunch on Wednesday, Dec. 20.
Both teams won, however, in terms of community building at the popular event, which students watched from the stands, eating their lunch between cheers.
Prior to the match, the police were optimistic about winning. “We are overall pretty athletic,” Police Officer Ian Green said. “We have a lot of guys coming from different sports backgrounds.”
As the first set got underway, RHS students quickly took advantage of their team’s previous volleyball experience to gain a 1-0 lead, winning the set, 15-11.
Next up, the police gained an early advantage, starting the second set with a 10-2 lead, apparently due to miscommunication at the students’ end. The police held on to their lead to win the set, 15-11.
Now tied, both teams knew the third set would be a win-or-go-home situation, with no clear favorite to win at the time.
At the start of the final set, Ben Barninger set the tone for the students, racking up kills left and right. The police held their own, however, making it a back-and-forth set. There was no room for error, as the deciding factor in this set was the serve. In the end, the students stayed consistent with their serves, squeezing by the police for a 25-17 win.
The two teams fought hard, but it wasn’t enough for the cops, as the students pulled two out of the three sets in their favor to win the match.
“We came, we saw and we conquered,” said RHS player Aedan Perez, after the win. “We had great team chemistry. The team knew the talent we had, and we just needed to prove it.”
“We practice without a net, which was our downfall,” Green said after the police officers lost, but he ended on an optimistic note. “We are really glad we were able to do this for our second year in a row,” he added. “We are looking forward to doing this again next year.”
The RHS volleyball players sounded ready for the challenge. “Our goal is to win next year, and the big vision is to go back-to-back-to-back,” Perez said.
