BOILING SPRINGS, SC - With a crowd of well-wishers on hand, the Boiling Springs boys' volleyball honored five seniors on Monday night as they defeated the visiting Greenwood Eagles 3-0 in their final home matchup of the season. The Bulldogs honored seniors Mark Zdanevich, Eddie Aleskik, Salomon Emurusabe, Prosper Hawj, and Damian Meas in a pregame ceremony before the match to honor their times with the program. "It feels really good to get this win on senior night," said Bulldogs head coach Rachel Hyatt. "We had seen Greenwood at the Byrnes tournament, and they actually won it a few weeks ago. We were a little nervous with what he had seen but I knew we could get the win as our guys have been performing pretty well lately as we won the Silver bracket at the Dorman Invitational this past weekend. It's great to get the win for those five seniors on their final regular season game here at home." Boiling Springs got off to a hot start taking a 1-0 lead when Zdanevich spiked a ball from the left side that landed inside the backline of the Greenwood defense. The Eagles bounced back to take a 7-4 lead over the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run of their own with Zdanevich getting a spike kill before Meas went on a four-point service run highlighted by kills from Hawj and sophomore Antoine Murray to take a 9-7 lead. With Boiling Springs holding a 13-12 lead, they went on another five-point run that was highlighted by two spike kills and two block kills by junior Tim Okhman and an ace serve by Hawj. After Murray got a kill to push the lead to 24-19, the Eagles followed it up with a return shot into the net that gave the Bulldogs a 25-19 lead in the set and a 1-0 lead in the match. In the second set, the Bulldogs fell behind 7-3 before going on another run that saw them tie the set at 9-9 when Zdanevich spiked a ball so hard that it ricocheted off a Greenwood player and hit the rafters in the gymnasium. The Bulldogs got their first lead of the set when Hawj got a kill that landed inside the back left corner of the Eagles defense to take a 12-11 lead and never relinquished that lead on their way to a 25-23 victory, a victory that was won in an unconventional way as the Bulldogs got the game winning point on rotation violation by the Eagles to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Boiling Springs once again fell behind in the third set, falling as far behind as 5-1 before making their climb back in the set. Trailing 15-13 the Bulldogs got back-to-back kills from Zdanevich and Hawj to tie the set at 15-15 before Murray got a kill and Hawj got an ace to take their first lead of the set at 17-16. With the Bulldogs holding a slim 19-18 lead, they got four straight points from three sophomores Dylan Booker, Coleman Wheatley, and Murray all scored points for the Bulldogs to take a 23-18 lead. Booker sealed the match for the Bulldogs when he spiked a ball off a Greenwood player that landed just beyond the net for a 25-22 win in the set and a 3-0 victory in the match. In his final regular season match in front of the home crowd, senior Mark Zdanevich ended the match with a double-double getting 12 kills and 10 digs. Fellow senior Prosper Hawj finished the night with 11 assists. Junior Tim Okhman continued his strong play along the net for the Bulldogs as he recorded seven blocks to add to his season total, as he leads the nation in solo blocks with 62 so far on the season. On senior night, the Bulldogs also got a strong match from three sophomores as Dylan Booker had nine kills, Antonie Murray had five kills, and Coleman Wheatley had another strong night from the setter spot recording 20 assists. Hyatt the five seniors have been key to the success of this year's team after they lost nine seniors last year. "Prosper and Mark are the two seniors I've had for a couple of years and it's going to be really sad for me to see them walk that stage and graduate in May," said Hyatt. "Salomon, Damien, and Eddie have been great additions to the team this year as Eddie came in to play libero, in his first year of indoor volleyball, after being a wrestler the last few years." Boiling Springs will now wait until the end of the week as they wait to find out where they'll be seeded in the upcoming boys' volleyball playoffs, which will award the first ever South Carolina state championship this season. The Bulldogs will look to host a playoff game on October 23rd, which Coach Hyatt said would be a great birthday present for her that day. Lady Bulldogs Golf Qualifies |
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