Game Report:

Varsity Volleyball

VS. Arlington Sept. 19, 2017

After bouncing back with a win against Burlington on Friday, the Woburn Varsity Volleyball Team (4-1) played a very exciting match against a tough Arlington team on Tuesday. The Tanners won three sets to two (25-11; 21-25; 25-19; 14-25; 15-13) in an up-and-down game that saw both teams gain and lose momentum. By the end, the crowd was on their feet while Arlington and Woburn went point for point in the tie breaking set.

In the first set, Woburn was the aggressor, taking an early 12-5 lead. Arlington was forced to call a timeout after Woburn’s Laurie Doherty, Rachael Richards, and Katherine Furxhi found holes in their formation. But Woburn did not slow down one bit after the timeout and continued their domination, ultimately winning 25-11. For now, they kept the Arlington crowd quiet, wondering when the home team would step up their game.

They did not have to wait long. After a back and forth start to the second set, Arlington started to break away, going up 20-16. Woburn almost caught up after calling a timeout down 22-18, but Arlington won the set 25-21. At this point, the crowd was starting to get into it and you could tell that the Spy Ponders were drawing strength from them.

In the third set, Woburn got out to a quick lead after some nice plays by Julie Miller and Laurie Doherty. They got the lead up to 14-7 before Arlington called a timeout, and it seemed that Woburn was back in control of the game. However, as soon as someone seemed to be in control, the other team would come right back. Arlington scored four straight points after the timeout and the game was now 14-11. Then Woburn took the momentum back from Arlington, scoring seven straight of their own after a timeout to go up 21-11. The Tanners would end up winning the set 25-19, but not before Arlington went on a late run to give them some hope heading into a do-or-die fourth set.

Woburn got out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and it was looking like I would finally be able to get off the incredibly uncomfortable benches in the Arlington High School Gym and go home happy with a Woburn win. But all of a sudden, Arlington came roaring back with their crowd roaring for them. Coach Roy called a timeout when the Spy Ponders tied it at 11, trying to get Arlington out of the rhythm they got playing in front of their fans. But the crowd did not quiet down one decibel and Arlington continued to put up point after point, winning the set 25-14.

The game was now down to one final set. Arlington had all the momentum, and the fans were ready to blow the roof off after leading 4-0 early. The Arlington bench was dancing around, acting like they had already won. Then, all of a sudden, Woburn started to come back, perhaps fueled by the arrogant Arlington players. They stormed back to take the lead 8-7 and stretched their lead to 14-13, one point away from winning. Woburn called a timeout, trying to calm down the players and get them ready for the final point. Both teams went back out onto the court 40 seconds before the timeout even ended, ready to resume play. It turned out the Woburn players could have just stayed back on the sidelines. The Arlington serve hit the net and fell short, much like the Arlington team itself. Woburn won the set 15-13 and the match, and I couldn’t tell who was happier: me when finally get off those wooden benches built in the 1860s or the Woburn team after the win.

--Submitted by Dylan Woods, Staff Writer