By: Kate Foster ’19

The fall season is back in session and volleyball is looking to compete in the state championship once again. They have already played ten games and out of those they have only recorded two losses, one against Barnstable on Monday and one upset against Shrewsbury early in their season.

Against Shrewsbury, the girls lost three sets, but won one. The sets were close as Westborough held their own losing by only 5 points in each.

However, their game against Duxbury was a huge win as they beat one of their biggest rivals. Last year Westborough came back from a 2-0 set deficit to beat Duxbury in 5 sets in state semifinals, sending them to the championship. Duxbury was looking to beat Westborough, but the Rangers took ahold and won the first 3 sets concluding their upset. The first set was a close game, only winning by 2 points. Westborough gained power and intensity and Duxbury couldn’t keep up as the last two sets were 10 point differences.

With the success, the girls volleyball team will look towards captains Chloe Goebel, Heidi Yap, and Sarah Masciarelli for assistance throughout the year while they lead the team to victory. Another senior, Lexi Austin, is a great addition to the team as three years ago she transferred from Algonquin Regional High School, Westborough’s biggest rival. The team is looking strong as the younger players are also positively contributing to the team with sophomore Abby Papetti and juniors Alexa Vassilakis, Rachel Lehman, and Madison Bromm.

The team is looking to continue their season successes as Goebel says, “we are looking to go to the championship again and I think we have a good chance with our strength this year.”

However, the team has taken a hit after an injury. Yap was warming up for the game against Algonquin when she took a wrong step and tore her ACL. Yap is out for the whole season as she will be in recovery for the rest of her senior year. This was a huge upset for Westborough as Yap was a starter for the varsity team and assisted many points in games.

As Goebel says, “Losing Yap was unexpected, but we’re working hard as a lot of people are stepping up to help the team which is great.” Yap’s teammates have all been supportive in her injury and are hoping for a speedy recovery as they try to adjust to the loss of one of their starting players.

With this injury the team lost a key player, but are still hoping to continue their winning streak in the season and improve through the next weeks.

Their next match is on Friday at Groton Dunstable where the fans are looking to attend to support their girls to a great victory!