The Mathews High School varsity volleyball team took up right where it left off from last year’s championship season, dominating most of the opponents in Saturday’s MHS Jubilee.

Of the five teams taking part—Mathews, Menchville, Peninsula Catholic, Lafayette and Christchurch, the host Devils were the strongest, taking every set except for one against Menchville.

“I thought we did really well considering it was our first matches together. We also got more comfortable with each other throughout the day because we got to spend so much time together having fun on and off the court,” said defensive specialist Whitney Eriksen.

On Tuesday, Mathews traveled to New Kent in its final preseason scrimmage. They played five games, finally defeating the Trojans in the final set. The Devils came out strong, taking the first set, 25-19. They changed up the lineup and the Devils dropped set two, 16-25. In set three, the Devils had refocused and just took care of business, overpowering the Trojans, 25-17. In the fourth set the Devils slacked off and just couldn’t seem to get a good pass to run the offense that they are so well known for, falling 13-25. After that loss, they came back fired up to take the fifth and deciding set, 15-10.

“Our strong point is that we know how to work and play together; we know how to pick each other up after a mistake and we know how to pump each other up. Not many teams can say they get along and truly love their teammates like we love each other,” said libero Rachel Close.

As a team, Mathews collected six aces, 40 kills, 39 assists, two blocks and 95 digs. The Devils hit the road tonight to take on the Lafayette Rams, with the varsity game starting at 7.