It was a rough night at Mascenic on Monday, as the young Viking boys’ volleyball team hosted John Stark.
While Mascenic made a lot of athletic plays around the net with their superior size, they were hit with a slew of illegal set calls, a sign of growing pains as a team full of underclassmen continues to learn the game.
“They’re learning and they’re working hard every night,” said first-year head coach Lauren Somero, “and they’re really the type of team where you say ‘Jump!’ and they say ‘How high?’ That’s awesome, but they just need to get those fundamentals down, like getting their hands there high and early.”
The Vikings lost to the Generals in straight sets.
“This is the kind of team where when we start stringing good plays together, there’s going to be a heck of an offense, but we are still getting to that point,” Somero said.
Micah Howard had four kills and three blocks, Mike Totaro had two kills and a block and Mike Bowen had four assists.
“There are some things that definitely need some work,” Somero said, but the good thing about this team is that they’ll do the work, and I think we could make some noise if we squeak into playoffs.”
Mascenic (1-5) was set to travel to Timberlane (7-0) Wednesday night after press time. The Vikings host Salem (3-4) on Friday at 4 p.m.