The boys varsity volleyball team lost 3 sets to none to the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars in their first game of the season on Wednesday. They hope to use this loss as a learning experience for the future.

The team is composed of only three returning players, and about half is comprised of middle-schoolers. With so many new players to the sport, many had never experienced an official game against another team.

“Everybody has a good idea of what a volleyball game looks like [now],” middle school science teacher and coach Sari Tullis said.

The boys lost their first set 25-13, their second set 25-6, and their third set 25-18. During the last match, the Lions focused on the ball and scored many points on the Cougars. Despite losing, Tullis felt that the team was “crushing it.”

“I’ve never seen any of them dig like that before,” Tullis said, adding that they made some great passes.

Similarly, junior and captain Jeremy Lazoff was very proud of his teammates. Before the game, Lazoff reminded them to be confident in themselves and their skills.

“At the beginning of the game we didn’t have confidence under [serving], but towards the end of the game, everybody got a chance to serve and everybody really got the hang of it,” Lazoff said.

After the game, Lazoff reminded the team not to doubt themselves since the Cougars are the best team in the league.

Freshman Noam Zaremba said that the team had great serves and good leverage to get the ball over the net. Zaremba and Lazoff both said that in the upcoming weeks, they will work on passing the ball.

“We have a really great setter, but the rest of us need to know how to set also,” Lazoff said. “So if he’s out or if he can’t get the ball for the rest of us, [the team can still] get good passes.”

Lazoff and Tullis both agree that the team needs to work on communication and calling for the ball, as well.

“Playing our first game, we learned a lot about what we should focus on,” Tullis said.