by Jen Burhans
The Berlin volleyball team started a three game series with a comeback win over Voorheesville on Thursday night, January 31. After spotting the Blackbirds a two game head start Berlin rebounded with steady play and a string of strong serves to come back and win the next three games to take the match. The team switched to a new set-up to take advantage of the experience of the four starting seniors, and they had to shake the bugs out the first two games. The winning games showed a marked improvement, with strong blocks and spikes at the net taking advantage of the Mountaineers’ height advantage.
The Berlin volleyball team traveled to Germantown on Friday, February 1, for their second game of three in a row to face the undefeated Clippers. Berlin started off slowly but in the second game gave the Clippers all they could handle, narrowly dropping the game. Game three got off to a good start once again with the Mountaineers giving the Clippers a good chase, but they were unable to hold on to the lead and lost in three straight. The Berlin fans in the stands could see a marked improvement in the team’s play. The boys seem to have started to settle in with the new system, and Germantown had to use all their experience and height advantage to defeat a strengthening Berlin team.
On Monday, February 4, Berlin faced Hawthorn Valley. This was Berlin’s last regular season home game, and they honored their senior players after the match. Sakon Sadowski, Conner Brown, Dan von Schilgen and Reed Roscoe were presented with carnations and recognized by coach Slaver at center court with a few words. Berlin won the first game decisively but lost focus the second game and lost to an excited Hawthorn Valley team. Berlin rallied back, and strong serving by the younger players in the next two games gave Berlin its fourth win in the league. Berlin has one more league game, and then it will travel to Voorheesville on February 14 for the start of the two day league tournament. How they do on day one will determine who they play on the following day. Berlin will host play for the finals on February 15. The teams stands at 4-3 in the Central Hudson Valley League and 5-5 overall.