By:  Haley Welsh

The volleyball season has been underway for two weeks, and the team is looking forward to a great season. Last year, only one senior graduated so the team has a strong selection of returning players, including the three senior captains: Becky Arena, Mary Kate Lehman, and Emma Smallcomb.

Coming off last year’s district semi-final loss to Hopkinton High School, Westborough hopes to improve their previous 17-5 record,  and win the league title this season for the sixth consecutive year.

There are important games this season for the Rangers. These includes league rival, Algonquin High School who they split with last year, and Division 2 rival Notre Dame High School of Hingham who the Rangers were the runner up to in the 2015 state championship match.

Even with these tough matches ahead, Smallcomb has a good feeling about this year’s line-up, “Our team looks really good, I’m excited to start playing again. I think we’re going to be a really strong team and hopefully we’ll go far in the tournament.”

The Rangers will look to junior Lexi Austin, outside hitter for the Rangers, who recently transferred to Westborough from Algonquin Regional High School to be a key hitter during the season. Also, Alexa Vassilakis, the only sophomore on the 2017 team, will play middle and provide strong defensive play by blocking.

The Rangers earned their first win Thursday night at Bishop Feehan High School, where Westborough dominated four sets to one. In the post game, Lehman explained how at Thursday’s game “[the team] learned what [they] need to improve on as well as what [they] are good at.”

Assistant Coach Janice Spofford was also very proud of the team’s efforts, explaining how the win was a “full team effort; everybody, whether on the court or the sideline, contributed to the win.”

The Rangers have two home games next week, Tuesday and Friday, both at 5:15 p.m.