Senior Night serves a loss for men’s volleyball

By Jaspreet Baath,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

On April 23, Davis High students and parents alike piled into the South gym in order to watch the varsity men’s volleyball team take on Elk Grove high school on the team’s senior night.

DHS fell to the league best Herd in straight sets, bringing their record to 6-10.

Before the game, the team’s graduating seniors were honored by their teammates and parents with posters, flowers and high-fives.

The three athletes that will graduate this spring are seniors Thomas Venner, Zack Ringer and Jeffrey Basso.

“The seniors this year will be missed, they brought a lot of energy and team spirit and were also leaders in games,” junior Ashish Singh said.

Singh added that they were very helpful in introducing some of the team’s novice players to the sport. “A lot of the guys on our team were first year players but the seniors were helpful in bringing the team together and helping us get better,” Singh said.

Compared to the pregame ceremony, the game itself was considerably less heart-warming. Throughout the game, the Devils fell victim to their own mistakes.

“We played well on offense but on the opposite side we weren’t blocking well and couldn’t stop their spikes,” junior Cariappa Kodira said. Kodira added that the team picked up their defense in the later sets but at that point it was “too little too late.”

Elk Grove came out fast, winning the first set 25-15.

Their momentum carried into the next game as Elk Grove bested the locals once again, 25-14. In the second set, the Devils held their own, and were knotted with Elk Grove 7-7 early on. However, they fell victim to unforced errors allowing the visitors to pull away.

“One thing we need to fix is not making so many mistakes when are closing games,” Kodira said.

The third set began with Davis playing with their backs to the wall as they jumped out to an early 8-3 lead. Elk Grove countered with a run that brought them level 16-16. Fueled by the electric home crowd, DHS kept the game close but ultimately lost 25-20, completing the Elk Grove sweep.

The game marked the last home game of the season for the team, and the last home game ever for the graduating seniors.

Senior Thomas Venner is playing in his fourth season on the varsity team and is sad to say goodbye.

“The seasons flew by far too fast but I am very thankful that I chose to do volleyball freshman year,” Venner said.

Venner added that despite the departure of three of the team’s leaders, next year’s personnel will be able to get the job done. “I have high hopes for them because they are all so young and improved so much over the course of this single season.”