North boys’ volleyball prevailed against the Milford Scarlet Hawks 3-1 in a tight-fought game, defending the Tigers’ state champion reputation Wednesday, May 7 at home. North played well on both sides of the ball to secure a big win over the competitive Milford squad, despite struggling with injury troubles throughout the game.
North started strong, with sophomore Bryson Mercedes setting the tone and delivering several kills early on. The Tigers took the first set 25-19.
“We had to just come out and play strong, making sure we played a good offensive game,” said head coach Nile Fox. “The biggest thing was to come out and be offensive and get our middles going.”
In the second set, senior Simon Vardeh led the way for his squad with 3 kills, but Milford stayed right behind, with the largest North lead being just 4. “The team played good volleyball, but I think we lost our tempo,” said assistant coach Palmer Osias. However, the Tigers come out on top as a result of well-played offense and capitalizing on Milford’s serving errors, according to Osias.
According to Mercedes, disaster struck for the Tigers early on in a potential close-out third set as Vardeh was sidelined with a minor injury. Although North fought hard, Milford took its first set with a 25-17 win.
Despite losing Vardeh, the team kept their chemistry up, said Mercedes. “We had to stay composed without our best player. He was out for the third set and we ended up losing, but I think we did a good job closing out the game,” he said.
With Vardeh back in action for part of the 4th set, the Tigers exploded out to a 17-10 lead. Milford clawed its way back up, trailing by just two points, but the Hawks’ mistakes and a late push from North’s offense secured a 25-20 win for the Tigers, taking home the victory 3-1.
According to Fox, the Tigers played with aggressive offense, but late in the game it was their defense that saved them. Fox said the defensive strategy was to “be scrappy and make sure we were getting up as many balls as we can.”
The Tigers, 12-3, fell to Needham at home Thursday, May 8. The team will face Natick at home Tuesday, May 13.
