The Immaculata-LaSalle boys’ volleyball team is looking to get back on the right track with their upcoming road contest versus Ransom Everglades.

ILS (1-4) travels to take on Ransom (7-2) on Friday in a conference match. The Royal Lions, which are currently fourth place out of five teams in the 1A D28 class, dropped their latest home contest to Miami High (10-0) on Tuesday.

The Stingarees, which are ranked as the No. 1 team in the country according to MaxPreps, have outscored the Royal Lions 6-0 in their two contests this season. And while those big-losses haven’t been pleasant, senior Gabe Xirinach has used the matches as a learning experience.

“We haven’t gotten off to the start we wanted this year, especially with these types of losses. However, we can only learn from every game we play in, figure out our mistakes, and go up from here,” said Xirinach, who’s a first-year player on the team.

Scheduling hasn’t favored the Royal Lions all season. After preparing for the volleyball season throughout the entire winter sports period, a COVID-19 outbreak forced them to quarantine and reschedule the season-opener. Following the team’s match against Ransom (7-2) on Friday, the Royal Lions won’t play again for 18 days.

“It sucks to not have been able to find a rhythm as a team yet, but we’re focusing on what we can control,” senior William Hernandez said.

ILS’s lone win of the season came in an action-packed 3-2 victory over Somerset Academy Silver Palms. The Royal Lions dropped the first set 25-19, though they won the second 25-18. The third set saw ILS regress, dropping it 25-12, but they battled back to take the fourth set 25-22. The Royal Lions used their momentum to steal the fifth set 15-11, and seal the victory.

“I know we can play every game the same way we did at the end of the Somerset game,” Xirinach said. “We were all on the same page, even those on the bench, and we got the job done.”

On the stat-sheet, junior Carlos Gomez leads ILS in kills (19), kill percentage (38.8%), and blocks (14). Senior Jeronimo Canedo is second in kills with 14. Senior AJ Alvarez has recorded a team-high in assists (42), digs (9), and aces (6).

The Royal Lions will continue their season after Spring Break when they host Archbishop Carroll (0-1) on April 13. Following that match, ILS will play their final two games of the regular season versus Braddock (4/22) and American Heritage (4/23).