Varsity boys volleyball faltered against Branham High School in a hard-fought five set match 14-25, 14-25, 25-15, 26-24 and 12-15 in the Zhang Gymnasium on Friday.

Harker opened with setter Brandon Labio (11) serving, but receiving errors by the Eagles quickly allowed Branham to pull ahead 0-2. While Harker struggled to cover open areas on their side, serving mistakes from the Bruins allowed the Eagles to close the gap 6-7.

Branham opened the second set by consistently spiking through the Eagles’ blocks. While Harker successfully received some of the hits, they were unable to mount successful counterattacks and deliver on hits, prompting a timeout at 4-11. Following a return from Kairui, outside hitter Gary Xu (10) passed to Topaz, who secured a kill at 7-16. Although Topaz bolstered the Eagle’s offense with multiple kills, Harker failed to save several of the Bruin’s hits, making Harker lose the set 14-25. 

During halftime, the team regrouped, and head coach Jackson Dupler emphasized staying calm even while under pressure.

“I told them to trust the fact that we’ve been practicing for the past three weeks and start to try and take control of the match and start being more aggressive,” Dupler said. “In those last three sets, I thought we did a much better job of passing, which led to great attacking. Once we started to get the ball and play a little more on our serve, we started to make some great defensive plays and a lot more good blocks.”

In the third set, Aydin switched to play opposite hitter, executing a hit past Bruin blockers and pulling Harker to their first lead of the game 4-2. After a kill from Branham to tie the score, the two teams went neck to neck, trading points and rallying until Aydin secured a kill, bringing Harker to a 12-10 lead. Gary built on the energy, blocking a hit attempt from Branham in the following play. The team continued to strengthen their defense, with a combined block by Brandon and middle Spencer Mo (11) followed by a light tip from Spencer at 16-13.

“It’s all about being more of a team,” Brandon said. “In the first two sets, we lost point after point and became more disconnected. In the third set, once you get rolling, the crowd gets more energy, and we also play with more energy. As a team, it’s important to keep the energy up, not get lazy, but also don’t get down on yourselves when you’re making poor plays, just focus on the next point.”

Brandon went on a four-point serving streak, helping to build the team’s momentum. Spencer locked down Branham’s offense with another block that allowed Topaz to kill the ball at 21-13. Aydin added to the Eagles’ success with another kill to bring the score to 22-14. Off of a save from Luke, Brandon set the ball to Gary, who sealed the set with a cross-court hit to earn Harker’s first victory of the game 25-15.

“In the third and fourth set, we were resilient,” Brandon said. “We’re only going to learn more lessons from this. Our mindset was just keep building on the last point. We didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, so it’s constant adjustment and serve receive to get all the balls from the seams. I adjusted my setting to push the ball out more out more to the outsides and opposites.”

The teams began the fourth set by trading points through missed serves. As Harker failed to return Branham’s hits, the team trailed behind 6-8. Branham pulled ahead further after multiple out-of-bounds hits from Harker widened the gap to 10-16. Following back-to-back kills from Kairui and Gary near the backline, Harker closed the score to 14-18. 

As Branham began to fumble more balls and miss serves deep into the fourth quarter, Aydin took advantage of Branham’s shaky defense to tie the score 20-20 with a kill. After a successful hit from Branham, Aydin responded with another kill, keeping the teams locked in a stalemate.. Aydin secured numerous tips and blocks, with another hit bringing the two teams neck-and-neck at 24-24. A final ace from Gary concluded the set with a Harker win 26-24.

“We really fought back and it just showed our spirit and that we played the right brand of volleyball,” Aydin said. “The third set was where we really turned a switch. We felt early that we were in control and we took advantage of that. Going into the final set, we had a lot of spirit. We have the right mentality. We have the right focus, and I think going into the next couple of games we’re going to be really contending with these top teams like Branham.”

The Eagles opened the fifth set strong with a hit from Topaz, but the team’s serving errors and hits into the net allowed Branham to pull ahead 6-8. To switch up the Eagles’ offense, Topaz and Gary employed more trick attacks by tipping the ball instead of swinging fully, allowing Harker to narrow the game 11-13. Although Harker trailed closely behind Branham for the rest of the set, mistakes from missed serves and weak blocks allowed the Bruins to end the set 12-15.

“A five set match is always something you enjoy,” Dupler said. “It’s a fun match to watch. We started off slow, and we ended great in that final set. We only lost by three points there by the end, and if you’re going to lose, you want to go down swinging, and that’s exactly what we did. It’s only our second match, and we have a long ways to go.”