April 5th, 10:00 pm
The volleyball game between EABH and PASPOA had been anxiously awaited by the EABH students, who immediately stormed into the crowd when the time arrived and occupied the bleachers. The EABH girls watching started chanting in support before the game had even started, and their enthusiasm paid off: Aidan Van Cleef (04) started the match with a beautiful ace. The second point followed the excitement that the first created, and Aidan dived to save the ball after a spike from the PASPOA boys, allowing the play to continue and for EABH to score the second point. The trend continued with Aidan acing the serve once more.
PASPOA was finally able to score their reference. Despite that, EABH always seemed to be in the lead, and not only by a point but twice as many. The score went from 6-3 to 8-4, 10-5, and so on. EABH scored another beautiful point with a great serve from João Lima (10) and Aidan blocking the Huskies’ spike. With that, the trend of EABH having twice as many points continued; the score was now an impressive 14-7. The EABH girls watching were continuously and loudly cheering, amplifying the energy in the room.
After that glorious beginning, a series of small mistakes by the Hawks decreased the difference of points to 16-11. However, EABH did not lose its upper hand and scored another 4 points, while PASPOA could only take two for themselves, which set the score at 20-13. Tension increased significantly since the end of the set was potentially only one point away. Joshua (18) stepped in to serve to the sound of the EABH girls yelling “só mais um”. Joshua aces his serve, ending the set graciously and with the crowd going crazy.
The second set started intensively, and PASPOA seems to have regained their strength, scoring six points on EABH while the Hawks only scored one. The EABH girls watching the game came back with encouragement and chants, hoping to guide the boys back to the path of victory. João Lima immediately responded with a beautiful spike, scoring the second point for EABH on the second set. The coaches requested a timeout after PASPOA scored again.
The first point after the timeouts went to PASPOA: the Hawks missed a serve. However, the boys soon recovered and Dudu Calixto (06) guaranteed EABH the next point with a beautiful spike, and Pedro Jorge (07) continued to score for the Hawks with an ace. The boys started to catch up to the Huskies, slowly but surely decreasing the score difference, which now sat at 4-8.
The Huskies were fighting harder than ever, resulting in the next point being one of the longest ones of the match. The Hawks gave an amazing performance and after two blocks from Ted Mason (08) followed by a spike by Dudu Calixto, the point went to EABH. João Lima continued to score, acing his serve. Soon the score was 7-9 and the Hawks got closer and closer to PASPOA.
For the next several minutes, the game consisted of PASPOA and EABH alternating scoring until Aidan successfully spiked, interrupting the pattern, and soon the teams tied at 15-15. The game continued extremely competitive, and at the score of 18-19, with PASPOA nearing the set point, the court’s nervous energy reached an all-time high.
With a beautiful ace from Pedro Jorge, EABH tied with PASPOA again. That success was quickly followed by an impressive spike from Dudu Calixto, which finally put the Hawks in the lead as the set was about to end. Only one point away from winning the game, the boys on the court felt both energized and pressured. After a spike from the Huskies, the score tied again. The next point was a long rally, and, after many attempts at finalizing it from both teams, Ted Mason ended it by skillfully tipping the ball over the net. With a score of 21-20, the Huskies continued fighting harder than ever, scoring the next point and tying the score once more. In the dispute for the next point, the Huskies spiked the ball and the Hawks jumped to block it--- but that attempt unfortunately went out, giving the upper hand to PASPOA and taking them dangerously close to finishing off the set.
The coaches asked for a time out and the EABH boys came back to the court motivated. They were able to tie the score again with an amazing save from Aidan followed by a spike from Ted. Aidan won another point to EABH with an expert spike, putting the score at 23-22. Unfortunately, that was followed by Dudu Calixto missing his serve, and the score tied one more time. The next point also went to PASPOA, which now only needed a point to end the set.
With this being possibly the set’s last point, both teams give their all. The point was the longest one insofar, as both teams almost won until one of the PASPOA players spiked the ball outside of the Hawks' reach, leading to Aidan diving to save but unfortunately missing. With that, the second set of the game ended at 23-25 favorably to the Huskies. Since both teams won a set, the game continued into a third one to break the tie.
The third set started intensely, and EABH soon took the lead. Within minutes the score was at 5-2, but the Huskies made an effort to recover, and, after a series of spikes from the Hawks being successfully blocked by the Huskies, the score went back to a tie, at 6-6. After a quick time-out requested by the coaches, the Hawks returned with a beautiful save from Arthur Mello (14), earning the next point.
At this point, the crowd, which seemed to have exhausted their energy, came back even more excited than before, despite it already being 10 PM of an incredibly long day. The next two points went to EABH, the last one being scored due to a skillful spike from João Lima. The score, now at 9-6, changed dramatically in the next few minutes, with EABH significantly losing its advantage. A series of small mistakes, likely resulting from the pressure of the end of the last set of the match, allowed PASPOA to catch up, and the game now sat at 9-8. Soon the Huskies were able to tie with EABH.
Thankfully, the next point went to the Hawks, who now had the serve. Aidan overcame the pressure of the current score proximity and aced his serve not only once, but three consecutive times, putting the score at 14-10. The Huskies were able to return Aidan’s next serve, but with João Lima spiking the ball straight down, the Hawks took the next point, and with it, the game. The EABH students and teachers watching the game wasted no time and immediately invaded the court to celebrate with the players.