After days of tiring practices and nerve wracking games, the boys volleyball season came to an end May 20, losing a playoff game to Vianney. Their season was a raging success, often ending most games in the self-dubbed, “single-digit club,” meaning they left the opposing team with a score less than 10. 

One of the team’s rising stars, freshman Chase Williams, enjoyed both the challenges and successes of the season.  Being a starting varsity freshman, Williams was nervous coming into the season, especially because everyone on both his team and the opposing teams were much older than him.

“Joining the team was pretty daunting at first, but after the first few practices my teammates really accepted me,” Williams said. “They like to think of me as their little brother or son and love to make jokes about who gets to ‘Take their son home,’ but it really helped me get more comfortable with everyone and play better as a result.”

Often during games, chants of “He’s a freshman” are yelled to make the other teams mad that they are losing to an underclassmen. Though some may think this stresses Williams out, he actually enjoys the fun chants.

“I think it’s pretty exciting that you can rile up the people watching and make the game more interesting,” Williams said. “At first it made me nervous hearing people chant about me but now I find it funny and makes the game more exciting.”

The team made big achievements throughout the season, including an entire season-wide sweep of the team’s rival, Francis Howell, as well as sweeps of Zumwalt South, West, North, and East. The enthusiasm for the game and determination of the players is an admirable feat that hadn’t been done recently in FHC’s volleyball history.

Though the overall season was positive, there will always be games or moments of weakness. Some of the lower moments of the season included losing a set to Lutheran High and a loss in two sets to North. Though moments of loss can be embarrassing or angering, the team still persists through their close bonds.

“Even with losses, we build each other up so that we can bounce back faster,” Williams said. “It’s also a big confidence booster when we go back the next day and beat the teams we didn’t play very good to. It’s all about the mindset you go in with; you can’t focus on the negatives of the game, you have to stay positive and remember fundamental plays.”

The team will lose a significant amount of seniors this year because of graduation but Williams is optimistic about the future of the program. Next year, they plan to attack the season with the same energy they did for this one.  

“I’m excited to play with both the old players and new ones that will come in next year,” Williams said. “While I’ll miss the seniors, the best way to appreciate them is to continue what they started and make a good season next year.”