The Walpole Rebels Volleyball team started off their season with an exciting win against Natick. This was the first time in three years that Walpole has won their first game of the season. However, the team seemed to enter a slump and lost three games in a row.

Going into their second game Walpole was the underdog, which is why it was surprising when the match went to five games with Walpole being evenly skilled with their opponent, Newton North.

Compared to their past two games, their third and fourth games against Wellesley and Brookline were disappointing. The Wellesley game was over in three quick matches, each with a score of 25-16.  The Brookline game started out with two losses and then Walpole came back for the third match but ultimately ended up losing after the fourth, adding two more losses to Walpole’s record, making it 1-3.

The team has four new starters to play with their four returning starters, Seniors Lauren Bodin, Steph Barmakian, Emily Rothenberg, and Sophomore, Summer King. They include Seniors, Sydney King and Annie Keyes, Junior, Tori Webber, and Sophomore Morgan McLenan.

Sydney King plays right side hitter and Keyes plays outside hitter, which are both extremely important to the offensive part of the game. Webber plays defense as the defensive specialist, so she only plays back row, making a lot of digs and passes.  They all have an ability that has assisted the team throughout all of their matches even if it occasionally does not show in their stats.

Middle hitter is an important position all around because they block all of the hits, making it easier for the defense, and they make a lot of the offensive plays throughout the game. Walpole’s starting middles are McLenan and Summer King.  Captain, Bodin says, “They are constantly attacking and getting kills for us, along with blocking. “  King and McLenan are key players in the game due to the high number of points they have gotten the team in every match they play in.

King has made 35 out of the 74 kills Walpole has made in total from all their matches so far this season.  McLenan has made 5 blocks and King has made 12 blocks out of the 19 blocks that Walpole has total for the whole season.  For this reason, King is ranked number 20 in kills and 12 in blocks for all of division one in Massachusetts along with McLenan who is ranked number 91 in kills and 37 in blocks.

Barmakian is the reason why any of the kills that King and McLenan make happen.  Bodin says, “Steph plays an extremely important role on the court and I feel she never gets enough credit. She needs to know her players, know the sets they like (being high or low), and then give them a good set to work off of. One wouldn’t know that just by being a fan in the crowd.”  She is ranked number 18 for assists in Massachusetts for division one.

Bodin is the most important player on defense as libero, which means she can sub in for anyone in the back row.  She has to try and control the hits coming from the opposing teams hitters so that Barmakian can set them up for a play to occur.  She is ranked number 10 for digs in division one in Massachusetts.

The Walpole High School Volleyball team may be off to a rocky start but Bodin says, “I do think we will work really well together once we learn each other’s capabilities.  Time will tell whether or not the new team can pull it together and have a winning season.”