After winning the 4A State Championship over Hanover last season, the boys volleyball team look to repeat. However, it will be a challenge, since they lost three star players: Michael Ball, setter; Mason Cox, setter; and Maxwell Johnson, middle blocker. One key part of the team remains, senior Nick Spiciger. Nick had a breakout season last year as the team’s primary outside hitter. He led the team in kills and provided the team with energy and momentum that would all too often tip the momentum toward the Midlothian side.

This year, Nick and and Tanner Foglesong, both seniors, are team captains. Both have played volleyball for the Trojans since 8th grade. Tanner specializes as the team’s setter/ libero, while Nick is an outstanding outside hitter, earning recognition on the 2014-2015 All-Metro Team. During their sophomore year, both Tanner and Nick were captains on the JV team and were pulled up to varsity during the team’s run to the State Semifinals in 2013.

The Trojans started their season in stellar form by beating rival, Cosby High School, 3-0. From there, Midlothian reached a pitfall, falling to another 4A school Colonial Heights 1-3. On Labor Day weekend, the boys team entered the Showcase Tournament held at Richmond Volleyball Club in Downtown Richmond. There, Midlothian could not pull things together, going on to lose two games to Glen Allen and Deep Run, both very underrated at the time, back-to-back earning themselves a spot in the Bronze Pool. Later that day, they salvaged a win against Clover Hill but still could not find their groove. The next day, Midlothian lost to Ocean Lakes and then beat Salem in the Bronze Championship, placing them 15th out of 18th.

Once school started, the team played Hanover and took them to 5 sets, securing a crucial win over another 4-A school. Finally, the boys seemed to be back in form after tweaking the starting lineup. Finally, as the boys took one step forward, they are kicked back two steps, when in the final point in the fifth set, starting outside hitter, Matthew Lewandowski, rolled his ankle and was out for 3 weeks due to stretching tendons in his foot. After that win, the boys continued their streak, beating Clover Hill the following night 3-0.  The next week, Midlo boys beat cross-town rival Monacan in an impressive 3-0 victory, where they seemed to fire on all cylinders. They followed that victory with a 3-0 victory over Manchester. Much of this success can be contributed to the coaching of Randy Cox, the setting of junior Tyler Gregory, and the finishing ability of Nick Spichiger.

On September 23, the team played their biggest competition of the year, Colonial Heights. Earlier in the season, they lost to them 1-3 but after tweaking the lineup, they sought revenge. The boys ended up beating Colonial Heights in a thrilling 4 set match. The key to the game was shutting down middle 6’6 Noah Murdock with consistent blocking and good defense.

The following week, they played rival James River. In the first set, the boys team successfully quieted the crowd, dominating the first set, 25-18. The next sets were harder fought and had to be taken into extra points, 26-24 and 29-27. Both he coach and the team have made their goal clear to return to the state semifinals and fight their way back into the Siegel Center.