<p class="ql-block">Right before the start of his Vassar freshman 2022 volleyball season, Billy broke his hand during a practice and had to miss the majority of that season. The team did not perform to its expectations, and lost in the UVC semifinal. We anxiously waited for the 2023 season, which would turn out to be an unforgettable experience.</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">The first day of the season did not go well. Playing against Stevens, we lost 0-3. Billy did not start that match, and was subbed in during the 3rd set. The team did better in the 3rd set but it was too little too late to win the set. It was a good wake-up call to the team at the beginning of the season. </p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">After that game, Billy got the starting position for the next few matches. The opponents were weaker, and they were easy victories for Vassar. The next big match was with Springfield on Feb 16. Springfield is a traditional powerhouse who had won the most national championships, and a school Vassar had not beat in 22 years. Fang and I booked our first trip to Vassar to watch that game and cheer for the team.</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">Billy started the match against Springfield. Our team were focused, and took the first two sets. In the past couple of years we took the first two sets a couple of times, only to be reverse-swept. But not this time. We lost the 3rd set, but won 4th set to clinch the match 3-1. Billy shanked a serve and was subbed out late in the fourth set when we were leading. He played well till that point and was an integral part of the team's first victory over Springfield in 22 years. </p> <p class="ql-block">Parent cheering section: John, Guac’s dad, Jin, Andrew's dad, and me on the left</p> <p class="ql-block">Celebrating after the Springfield victory, with Gavin and his girlfriend and Andrew and his dad.</p> <p class="ql-block">On Saturday the team had a much easier time defeating MIT and Stevenson in a double-header. Fang and I took off to NYC and had a great time. We came back on Friday for the match with our UVC rival St. John Fisher. Guac started and we beat Fisher handily 3-0. </p> <p class="ql-block">Sophomores and their parents after the St. John Fisher victory</p> <p class="ql-block">Sophomores and their parents on the court</p> <p class="ql-block">The next morning Billy woke up with a fever. He tested negative for COVID and still joined on the sideline to cheer for the team against Nazareth. We won, but Billy was exhausted. After some medicine and a lot of sleep, he was getting a little better on Sunday, allowing Fang and I to return to California. It would take him another week or two to recover. He didn't get a lot of playing time for the following month. The team kept winning though as the #2 ranked team in the nation. The big showdown with the #1 team in the nation, Stevens, would be in the last week of the regular season. While it was uncertain whether Billy would get playing time, Fang and I decided to book a trip to come cheer for the team.</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">Did we make the right decision! The clash between #1 and #2 lived up to its promise. Stevens started strong and led 10-6 in the first set, when our starter Payne strained his ankle. Billy got subbed in, and immediately made an impact. He was at his best during this match, combining strong hits with smart drops and roll-shots, with pinpoint accuracy. The game was tied at 2-2 and went into the deciding fifth set. Our home court, the Kenyon Hall, was full-house, and the atmosphere was electric. The crowd cheered for every point, and the ground was shaking. The team was energized to an incredible five-set win over the #1 ranked Stevens. </p> <p class="ql-block">Billy contributed 14 kills, 0.333 hitting percentage, 1 block and 7 digs to the victory.</p> <p class="ql-block">Stevens' star player Koby Sherman was Billy's teammate in his club team.?Great kid!</p> <p class="ql-block">No rest for the team. On Saturday they played #5 Messiah, followed by a senior night game against Ramapo. The game against Messiah turned out to be surprisingly easy. And the seniors had a great time beating Ramapo 3-0 as well. The team had a nice senior night celebration afterwards. The only setback that weekend was with the old man myself. While going with John to pick up food for the Senior Night, we helped push a big broken truck up the curb, and my shoulder was sore for two weeks afterwards...</p> <p class="ql-block">Senior Night cake</p> <p class="ql-block">Fang and I spent another great week in the city, and on the next Saturday morning, we came back to Vassar to cheer them on for the UVC tournament. We brought with us good friends of Billy's grandparents: Granduncle Jiang, Grandaunt Tu and Grandaunt Jiang. Our UVC semifinal opponent was a surging MIT, who upset the Springfield team on their senior night. They also took out a pretty strong Elmira team in the UVC quarterfinal. Vassar team took care of business there. Billy started and made solid contributions to the victory with 8 kills, 3 assists and 7 digs. Grandaunt Tu took some great pictures and videos.</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p> <p class="ql-block">Billy's friend made a funny Billy Goat Fannypack poster to cheer for him.</p> <p class="ql-block">Nice action shot by Grandaunt Tu</p> <p class="ql-block">Backrow attack!</p> <p class="ql-block">Nice rally, ended with a smart play!</p> <p class="ql-block">Last point to win the match!</p> <p class="ql-block">After the win, picture with the granduncle and grandaunts</p> <p class="ql-block">In the other semifinal, St. John Fisher took out a strong SUNY New Paltz team. So on Sunday, we played St. John Fisher for the UVC title. It was the best college game Billy played so far. He led the team in number of kills (14) at an awesome hitting percentage of 0.684! He also added 2 assists, 1 block and 7 digs, and played with leadership on the court. Vassar beat Fisher in three straight sets and claimed the UVC championship!</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p> <p class="ql-block">Sophomores with the UVC trophy</p> <p class="ql-block">With the UVC title, we qualified for the NCAA tournament as the first seed and will host the first two rounds the following weekend. Another victory, another red-eye flight for us! We arrived on April 21, Friday morning. First match was between Springfield and Southern Virginia. Southern Virginia had a powerful line-up and beat Springfield 3-2. In the 2nd match, we beat Baruch easily, but we knew that the Saturday match against Southern Virginia would not be as easy. </p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">On Saturday, we executed a good game plan flawlessly. Our blocks were working. Billy registered 5 blocks and 5 team blocks, along with 9 digs and 10 kills, and we beat a strong Southern Virginia team 3-1. My friends Vivian, Joe, Rita and their kids came to cheer for Billy and team. In addition to the grandparents, Shuki and Anat also watched the game over streaming and called right after the match to congratulate Billy. On to the final 4! </p> <p class="ql-block">A nice rally with Southern Virgina</p> <p class="ql-block">Now in slow motion...</p> <p class="ql-block">Billy's cheering squad</p> <p class="ql-block">I impressed Billy's teammates with this facial expression</p> <p class="ql-block">Ready for the Final 4!</p> <p class="ql-block">What a fairy-tale three-weekend run! Back on April 6 we were not sure if Billy would see the court. Now we just had three-weeks of amazing action-packed games against the top teams, with Billy being a solid component of the team using his skills and brain to help the team win. Vassar's winning streak had reached 25. It was the unanimous #1 team in the country, and in the following week garnered more honors including Player of the Year for Andrew Kim, Coach of the Year for Coach Gary and three all-american first-team honors to Andrew, Jacob and Gavin. The team were on Cloud Nine, but Fang and I felt a little uneasy as things are going almost too well. Anyways we took yet-another-red-eye-flight, this time to Maryland where the Final 4 would take place. </p> <p class="ql-block">We arrived in BWI on Friday morning. In the last two good games we took Billy to eat a cheeseburger 2.5 hours before the match. So we will continue this lucky cheeseburger ritual here. There is no Savona's in Owings Mills, and we settled for Wendy's. The game would take place in the Stevenson gym. This gym was not a lucky one for us as last year we lost a game we should have won here, to Stevenson. It turned out that was not the end of our lack-of-luck here. Our opponent was North Central. They beat the defending champion Carthage four times this season. They prepared well for us, and successfully contained our main attackers. We were also a little nervous at the beginning and lost the first set. </p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">2nd set was very tight. While we were in the middle of the fight, coach decided to make a change and pulled Billy. That did not improve the situation and we lost the 2nd set. The coach decided to keep Billy out of the 3rd set. The team could not get enough momentum to turn it around and we lost in the national semi-final 0-3. This marked the end of this fantastic season. </p><p class="ql-block"><br></p> <p class="ql-block">What a season it was! It was a historical season for the Vassar team, beating Springfield for the 1st time in a long time, claiming #1 rank in the nation for the first time in school history, winning back the UVC title, and getting to the Final Four! And what a season for Billy. When he is on the court, everyone plays better. He helps the team win, not only with his skills and his kills, his passes and his serves, but also with his leadership, his calm and his cheering for and lifting up every teammate. We can't be more proud of him! While this year we did not manage to go all the way, it will motivate Billy and the team to get better next year. Look forward to the 2024 season!</p>