By Jake Freudberg and Adam Hurwitz
Sports Reporters

After a 3-0 loss to Needham in the second round of the state tournament, the Newton South boys’ volleyball team’s season came to a close, earlier than in past years. Overall, the team exceeded many expectations for a “rebuilding” year, finishing the regular season 14-6 and getting a 3-0 victory over Barnstable in the first round of the playoffs.

While his team’s record may not have been as impressive as previous years, head coach Todd Elwell was pleased with the team’s performance this year.

“I was happy with this season. We all knew coming in that we had some shoes to fill. A lot of kids went out and did some hard work in the offseason to get better. They were still hungry. They wanted to be competitive,” Elwell said. “We were competitive. We dealt with adversity well.”

Even after losing senior Harry Xu to injury in the first week of the season, the team managed to get key victories, including handing south sectional finalist Greater New Bedford their only loss of the season and defeating DCL foe and state powerhouse Cambridge 3-2.

Junior captain Noah Kopf added that he was not too disappointed with falling to Needham in the playoffs.

“I have no problem getting out to a state finalist [Needham], though I wish we hadn’t had to play them so early in the tournament,” Kopf said.

Kopf also outlined what the team needs to work on to excel next season.

“I know that our passing and setting is going to be good next year, but we will need to put a lot of time into our offense in the next ten months,” he said.

The team blocked, passed, and served efficiently this year, but their main struggle was with attacking the other team and scoring points.

Krish Maypole, rising senior and one of next year’s captains, is optimistic that this season will have a positive impact on next year’s success.

“I think having the opportunity to play together as a strong junior class will affect us well next year, because we’ll have an extra year of experience playing together,” said Maypole.

While many top teams in the state, such as Lincoln-Sudbury and Needham, will be losing four, five, or maybe six starters, the Lions will lose just one starter as senior captain Eli Braginsky graduates.

Elwell is also very confident that Kopf and Maypole will provide great leadership, both on and off the court, giving the Lions an opportunity to have another deep playoff run.

“I’d be guessing that we’ll bounce back very well,” Elwell concluded. “We’re going to take it one game at a time, but we’ll be as good as we’ve ever been.”