On Thursday, March 23, the boys’ varsity volleyball team faced a difficult loss against Tam High School. The team kept their heads up and fought through their first loss of the season. 

Tension and anticipation filled the Tam High School gym while the top two undefeated Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) teams prepared for the match-up. Prior to the game, Beckett Shewey, a sophomore on the redwood boys’ volleyball team, shared his perspective on how the game might go. 

“I think it’s definitely going to be a tough game, and it will really come down to if we are focused or not. I think we can win, but if we have a bad day, then I don’t think it will end in our favor,” Shewey said. 

During the first set, Redwood started off strong with high intensity and positive energy. They came out dominating on offense and defense, with Jack Alley, the libero, diving to keep the ball in play, along with strong spikes by Graham Gumm and Beckett Shewey. Their teamwork and comradery led the giants to win the first set, 24-12. With Tam being the 2022 MCAL champs, they didn’t let the tiring defeat of the first set get to their heads. In the second set, they took the lead early on in the second set. Redwood followed close behind, but Tam never faltered and kept their lead, winning the set 25-20.

Tam used their momentum and came out aggressive at the start of the third set. Brendan King, a Tam senior, fired fierce jump serves across the court, winning five points in a row.  They ran away with an early lead, winning 25-15.

The junior captain for the Giants, Auden Baker, analyzed the problems faced later in the game.

 “I think our biggest struggle was ‘serve receive.’ Towards the end of the game, most of our points were just having to free ball over, and then they would get a kill on us.” Baker said. 

With the frustration building up, Redwood started to lose focus.

“At the end I was pretty mad considering that we were making stupid errors that we have done millions of times and practiced [avoiding] over and over again in practice,” Shewey said. 

Tam finished the game off with the biggest lead of 25-11, winning 3 out of 4 sets. 

Head coach, Benjamin Wang, shared his thoughts after the game.

“Something we got to work on is more of a mental thing. Just being able to look at the next play and not get in our own heads,” Wang said.

Despite the upsetting defeat, the Giants’ potential for success was evident, showing strength and persistence throughout the game. The team is planning on reviewing film to analyze their mistakes to prepare for their next MCAL game on Tuesday, March 28, against San Rafael High School.