Before the boys volleyball team’s first section game this season, against Upper Saint Clair, no one was certain how they would do this year. Their big performance in that victory gave them the momentum they needed to continue their winning ways and put together a perfect section record heading into the second half of the season.

“We really did not know how we were going to go into section play, but that game we came and played really well,” senior Dylan Leonhardt said. “We destroyed them, and that gave us a lot of momentum going into the rest of section play.”

Baldwin last week defeated the only team they had not played in their section yet – Peters Township – bringing their section record to 5-0 and overall to 9-2.

Junior libero Martino Suta said the rest of the season is looking promising. Because they have beaten each team once, they believe they can go and defeat all of them again in the second half of the section schedule.

“It felt great knowing Peters was the last team we needed to play in our section,” he said. “Beating them means we can go and beat all of these teams again and secure the section win.”

Because of their many successes thus far, Baldwin hopes to not only win the section, go far in the playoffs as well.

“I think this year, especially, we can make a deeper run,” Leonhardt said. “Obviously, the hope is winning WPIALs.”

Last season, the team was good. This season, they are performing even better after only losing one starter. The key to their success has been improved skills, communication, and team chemistry, Suta said.

“Our passing has definitely been going better,” he said. “We’re communicating more than last year, and I feel like we have a stronger bond, so we can play better.”

Leonhardt said the team poses greater challenges to other teams this year.

“We’ve been spreading the ball more evenly between hitters,” he said. “We just overall have more threats on the court.”

Many of the seniors in particular help to strengthen the team. Leonhardt has an aggressive serve, and seniors Alex Kelly and Austin Kruszewski have had success in putting the ball away are crucial for the team’s success, Suta said.

Senior Brayden Gremba is another leader for the team, Leonhardt said.

“It’s always going to be Brayden. He’s the guy we look to whenever we need a near-guaranteed kill or some big play,” Leonhardt said.

In addition, sophomore middle blocker Christian Jones said he has seen Suta and Leonhardt really succeed in their serve receive.

Continuing this season and looking ahead to next, the team is looking to keep themselves from becoming frustrated and instead keep their cool, Suta said.

With the second round of section play starting again soon, the team has to prepare to face each team again. Three big games coming up are Upper St. Clair, Canon Mac, and Mt. Lebanon. Upper St. Clair is second in the section, with Mt. Lebanon following in third.

Leonhardt said the team knows USC is capable of more than what they showed last time. In preparation for this game, the team plans to play calm and make their opponents make their own mistakes.

For Canon Mac, they plan to play a strong offensive game to counter their intense defense, he said.

“They’re a really good defensive team,” Leonhardt said. “If you give them something too easy, they’re just going to pick it up.”

In all, they plan to enter the games playing clean volleyball.

“Our mindset right now is to keep it as business as usual,” Jones said. “We want to try to stick to playing clean volleyball and not do anything over the top.”