Dedham Volleyball Drops Opener in Five-Set Match

The may have finished just 2-16 last year, but they came out firing on all cylinders last night in their season opener against Sharon, winning the first two games before the Eagles were able to overcome the early deficit and win a five-set match (24-26, 14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-13).

“I think we were doing really well in the beginning,” junior captain Jodie Munchbach said. “Sometimes we just get in our heads that if we make little mistakes it’s the biggest deal and we just stop communicating, and when we stop communicating that’s really when it all goes downhill. If we’re not talking, then we don’t have anything. We just need to keep our energy up and keep working hard.”

The first game started evenly until Dedham would extend that lead to as much as 11 points at 16-7, but Sharon roared back to take the lead at 24-22, but first-year Dedham coach Stephanie Adams called a timeout and Dedham then ran off four straight points to close out the game.

The second game started close as well. The score was tied at 10, but then the Marauders began a rally when Munchbach flew up high near the net and spiked the ball into the ground between three Eagles. From there the Marauders closed out Sharon with a 15-4 run, including putting away the last eight points when Munchbach was serving.

Game three was the turning point for Sharon. Down 15-9, they called a timeout and then ran off seven straight points, and would go on a 16-7 run to win the game.

“We’re playing a new formation that we haven’t played,” Sharon coach David Philips said. “When I called the timeout, basically I just reminded them how good they are and they need to play to their potential.”

Sharon took a big lead early on in the fourth game. Up 19-8, the Marauders got the ball back and went on a 10-0 run with Munchbach serving once again. But it was too little, too late for Dedham in this game as Sharon pulled it out, 25-23.

“We just started to die down a little,” Munchbach said. “If we kept our energy up, I think we definitely could’ve won that one.”

Game five was a back-and-forth game. Neither team took control, with Sharon coming out on top.

Munchbach said she liked what she saw from the team despite the loss. She’s already seen some improvement from last year, and is looking forward to getting back in the gym to work out some kinks for their next match.

“I definitely want to see us hustling more to get the balls that would just hit the floor and definitely more communicating [on the court],” she said. “We need to come out strong next time and use this as a positive, not reflect on the bad things but what we did well and come out next time better.”