“Participants should remember to talk at the game because communication is the most important part of volleyball,” said senior opposite Darryl Wong, who was not only referring to the kind of communication that wins games. “Trash talk will make the student-faculty game interesting.”

The team looks forward to enjoying a fun, carefree and exciting match — a contrast to their grueling season efforts, which recently culminated in a second-place finish in the silver division of the Sacred Heart Tournament on April 14. Though lack of communication meant that the Cardinals lost early matches against teams that were less than intimidating, they came roaring back later in the day — with an intensity and ear-splitting volume that struck fear in the hearts of unworthy contenders — and ended with a three-game winning streak.

Natassya Tossany Senior Darryl Wong preps to spike a dagger into the heart of the Mustangs.

“All in all, the tournament was just another step in showing us the level of play we are going to need to play hard and win,” Wong said.

With recent losses to Galileo and Lincoln and an overall record of six wins and four losses, the team will have to win the rest of its league games in order to make it to the post-season. Teams like Galileo only have one loss, which puts pressure on Lowell to win the rest of its games to make up for the difference.

A recurring issue for the Cardinals this year is closing out games and clawing for the last few points in each match. Whether they start with a big lead or come back in heroic fashion, the end result should be a head-to-head battle for points in a match-defining fifth game, something that didn’t happen during the tournament and in many season games.

Also, instead of playing at their own pace, the boys find themselves caught in their opponents’ momentum. Against good teams, they play well; against lesser teams, they get sloppy, and the game ends with a whimper.

“We have shaken it off since the Lincoln game,” Wong said optimistically. “The team is working hard to pump up the intensity and maintain it at each game to bring us to the championships.”

“Though we do not have a lot of players, we work hard and create a unit,” senior outside Frank Yang said. “We have been experimenting around with our line-up to get practice with a range of plays.”

Head coach Steven Wesley has done a great job getting the team to focus on their weak aspects and use their strong ones effectively. Assistant coach Mikey Brogonia has recently joined to help the team through practices and game situations. The coaches have also split the team into player positions to focus on each player more individually.

Outsides and middles work on hitting, setters and opposites work on movement across the court and the defensive specialist and libero practice getting every ball up, according to Wong.