By Vinny Frazzetto
Sports Editor
By

The Neshaminy boys’ volleyball team is off to a hot start in their 2013 campaign, starting the season 7-1, with many of their wins coming in dominating fashion. Currently housed in second place in the SOL National conference, the team is poised to make an impact in the division and quite possibly the state tournament this year.

A major contributor to the ‘Skins successes this year has been their impressive play on the road, with a 5-1 record thus far. The team shows confidence as they compete competitively away from home. “We are playing well as of now, hopefully we can step it up and play even better later on and it can carry into the playoffs,” Junior and co-captain Chase Fullen said.
Not only has the team been successful this season, they have been downright dominant against the teams they’ve faced, losing only one game through their first seven, undefeated matches, holding a record of 21-1.

The team would be nothing without strong contributions from captains senior Zach McGowan and juniors Ryan Jamison and Chase Fullen. While they are the team’s backbone and the members of the team that are looked to for motivation, they are also some of the best players on the team, with McGowan and Jamison leading the team in kills, and Fullen leading in assists.

However, on April 16, the ‘Skins lost to their undefeated rival, the Pennsbury Falcons, falling in four games to the division leader, 14-25, 25-19, 16-25 and 22-25. “I feel that we had a few too many serving and hitting errors to beat Pennsbury last night,” fourth year coach Kevin Roode said. However the team stays confident even after suffering their first loss, “If we can tighten up those areas, I think we can win the next time we play them,” Roode continued.

This loss has proved to aspire and motivate the ‘Skins, however. “We need to work even harder than we already are. We need to bring the intensity to every match and even practice. Focus is key. If we stay focused on what we need to accomplish, it will get done,” Fullen said.

“This year’s team is really hungry. They come to practice every day and show they really want to get better,” Roode said. This self-prescribed motivation will be tested as the ‘Skins will play a night game at Council Rock North, tomorrow, April 25 and will attempt to redeem themselves against Pennsbury at home May 8 at home.

With six games left this season, and the remaining games riddled with possible roadblocks, the ‘Skins will have to be on top of their game for the remainder of the year. While motivated internally with hopes of a league title, the team has the ability to advance much further.