Senior night is one of the most memorable nights for high school athletes, giving players the spotlight for the last home game of their high school careers.

For two of Bishop Stang’s volleyball captains, that celebration was close to being cancelled after Covid kept their competitor out of town.

Instead, the Spartans’ senior night became a spirited intrasquad scrimmage.

All over the gym, posters and balloons could be seen honoring two of the team’s senior captains, Kiera Ackah of New Bedford and Julia Rosenberg of Dartmouth, as part of the team’s senior night.

The evening began with a speech by Head Coach Amanda Tarantelli, where she praised her captains for stepping up in such a strange time, followed by some messages from the rest of the team.

“We couldn’t have asked for better seniors this year,” Tarantelli said. “This is your moment to shine.” 

The Spartans were supposed to play against Matignon High School, but the game was canceled the night before after the Cambridge school announced that it had to go fully remote “due to a developing Covid-19 situation.” 

To make sure her senior captains got a proper sendoff at home, Tarantelli decided to hold an intrasquad scrimmage instead.

“We really didn’t want to cancel senior night, so we just tried to make the best of it,” she said. 

After the ceremony was completed, it was time for the scrimmage to begin. Tarantelli split the squad in two, with her seniors on one team that included some of the coaching staff, with most of the underclassmen on a team the coach jokingly named “the Losers.” 

Although they were “the Losers,” the team didn’t mind their temporary name and could be heard chanting “one, two, three, Losers!” before the start of each set.

“They really embraced it,” Tarantelli laughed.

Although they were unable to compete against another school, the honorees said they were more than happy to play against their friends.

“Sure it was disappointing at first, but it’s always a fun time to scrimmage against each other,” Ackah said. “This is one of the last few high school volleyball moments we have.” 

“No stress, no pressure,” she added. “Just a fun night.”

Rosenberg agreed, noting that this scrimmage was just one of many great bonding moments the team has had in “such a crazy season.” 

Most of all, the seniors were touched by the amount of support they have from their school for being able to put on the event in such a short amount of time.

“I’m so glad we had this instead of nothing,” Ackah said. “If we pushed it to next week, we don’t really know what the future holds with regard to Covid.”