Credit: Becket Todd

Players shake hands after Wayland won the game 3-0.

On Tuesday, June 2, the varsity boys volleyball team beat Greater Lowell Technical High School in a 3-0 sweep. After beating Pioneer Charter School of Science II on Saturday, May 30, Wayland carried that momentum into this game.

Coming into the game, Wayland was the heavy favorite. After getting some key wins at the end of the season, including a victory over the then-No.1  team in the state, Natick, Wayland secured the No. 1 seed in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division II.

Wayland won all three sets, but they were not all easy. The game started with a 25-15 first-set victory for Wayland. With contributions from junior Will Conley, who had three straight serves to end the set, and big plays from senior Max Walsh and junior Brennan Smith, the Warriors came out on top.

The second set was much of the same with Wayland winning 25-18.

In the third set, Wayland was given its first true test of the playoffs. Late in the set, it looked like a sure loss for Wayland, with Greater Lowell leading 21-9, until junior Varun Bhukhanwala went on a streak of eight consecutive serves, bringing the Warriors back in the game and forcing Greater Lowell to take a timeout. After some back and forth, Wayland won the set 26-24.

The team achieved this comeback by keeping a good mentality and sticking to what they do best.

“I feel like we just kept our heads in the right space and built momentum over time,” Smith said. “Starting simple by just getting the ball over the net, getting blockers up and attacking them.”

Despite being down by 12, overall the game plan stayed the same, with only the execution changing. The players started to get into a flow and it carried them out of the deficit.

“Honestly, we didn’t make any adjustments,” assistant coach Andrew Bliss said. “I know we had some adversity, and we just got to acknowledge that we had to take it one point at a time.”

According to junior captain Mason Lee, the third set was a great example of the team’s persistence.

“I’m just proud that we were able to get ourselves back up and [it] shows how resilient we are as a team and how much we’ve improved.” Lee said.

With this win, Wayland advanced to the quarterfinals against Longmeadow High School on Thursday, June 4. Wayland won this game 3-0, and advanced to the final four for the third time in three years.

“It was a little bit of a roller coaster, but it ended up all right.” Smith said.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Credit: Becket Todd

Wayland lines up before the game as the starting lineups are announced.