History was made with the first gold medal brought home for the boy's volleyball team. In an emotional game shedding blood, sweat, and tears, Our Lady of Mercy’s Lancers were made sure to not defeat the Hawks. Despite the obstacles the boys went through in and out of practices regarding their health, positions, and chemistry, they persisted and their hard work certainly paid off. An entire hour prior to the game, the Lancers were seen gathered outside the gym discussing their final competition and entering their mindset for the game. However, that did not give them an advantage as the boys huddled with team captain, Lucas Chen (12), in the middle to charge them up.
The first point went to the Hawks after the Lancers missed a serve which instantly got the energy going. For the majority of the first set, their crowd was mainly filled with athletes from the seven schools that attend ISSL cheering for EABH, due to the overlapping of Lady Hawks’ soccer. Points continuously tied up to 6 which motivated the crowd to cheer louder as it progressively grew, chanting the athletes’ names. Aidan Van Cleef (4) broke the tie with a spike directly into the Lancers’ area after Arthur Mello (14) saved every ball that came his way. When the game reached 6 - 10, HOLM's coach called for a timeout wanting to encourage the boys to flip the game. The Lancers never managed to turn things around despite the referees calling a foul --that didn’t actually occur-- on a successful block by Tiago Loures as he allegedly touched the net. Tension continued to build up as João Quintão (10) saved points with multiple impressive digs. Another timeout was called as the Hawks were in the lead 3 points away from winning the set. Edward Mason (2) got the team even closer to victory with a valuable spike right on the line before Lucas Chen (12) scored the match point a few minutes after. By then, the entire gym was filled with supporters cheering from the bleachers, the floor, and outside the door.
Although the Hawks’ setter Tiago Loures (5) started the second set with an ace, the game was soon after timed out once EABH started losing 9 - 5. The time-out seemingly worked as the Hawks tied with the Lancers at 11 -11. Tenser than ever, the points went back and forth tying at 12 and then 13. OLM was ahead of EABH by 3 points at the 20-point mark, which then progressed to 22 - 20. A third set was guaranteed once the Lancers made 3 consecutive points winning the set.
To define the Hawks as the true winners of the game, the third set consisted of the starting lineup which instantly put them in the lead until they started tying. The ties like always, never last too long as Edward Mason (2) spiked the ball lifting the entire mood. When OLM started flipping the game again, Coach Laura called for one more time-out, making it the game with the most time-outs yet. Although the focus of the boys regained, the chase continued as EABH tied at 11 to soon be broken by Aidan Van Cleef (4) making 2 more points. At 13 points, the energy of the entire NR campus cheering in support of the Hawks manifested the fumble the Lancers made which brought EABH up to a match point. The most historic game in EABH history ended with a score of 12 - 15 after Eduardo Calixto (6) blocked the strongest spike that came from OLM.
Supporters from around the country were cheering in support as seen on posts the official EABH Instagram published. Never has the EABH athletics community felt as proud as they did at this moment, as the school can now hang a banner representing this historic moment.