By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor
WRENTHAM, Mass. — Attleboro boys volleyball earned its first-ever sweep on Monday. The very next day, the Bombardiers secured their first-ever win over a Hockomock opponent.
The second-year program has continued its upward trajectory this spring with the latest step a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-20) over a shorthanded King Philip squad — marking their first win over league rival King Philip in the first season the Hock has sponsored boys volleyball as a league sport.
“I knew coming into the season that collectively, we were solid, we had a strong foundation,” said second-year head coach Mary Katherine Blakney. “We had to learn how to win, we had to learn to put all the pieces together and trust each other. I’ve seen this season, and I even saw it in the match today, when our passers trusted each other, when our setter trusted our passers to do their job, we were able to run our offense. If we can’t pass the ball, we’re stepping in front of each other and we can’t run the offense that we want. I saw a lot of trust today and a lot more confidence.”
The Bombardiers gained a ton of confidence with their first set comeback. The host Warriors, despite being down four starters, used a 7-0 surge with Hayden Patel (16 assists, two aces) at the service line to turn a one-point lead (13-12) into what felt like a commanding 20-12 lead. Attleboro sophomore Nate Ydrach snapped the run with a kill from the middle and that sparked an 8-1 run to bring the visitors within a point.
Senior Elijah Sye landed a roll shot and senior Daequan Black (six kills) got up for a big block. KP’s Ted Dolan (seven kills, 19 digs) landed a kill but Attleboro reeled off five straight: a pass from Black, a KP error, a strong serve from Mario Recinos Salguero, a block from Anton Gabra (six kills), and Black capped the run by going up and blocking down a free ball.
KP twice got back to a two-point lead, a carry on the Bombardiers, and a kill from Nolan Franz (11 digs, six kills), with the latter making it 23-21. But Sye had back-to-back-to-back points, including a kill and an ace, Gabra landed another kill, and freshman setter Dairy Morataya (18 assists) dumped over a second ball and the Warriors couldn’t get it back over.
“We talked at the beginning of this game how we’ve broken the ice, we’ve won a game and we know how to do that,” Blakney said. “Now can you rise to the pressure of going into a game knowing you should win the game. That’s also something new. We’re definitely breaking barriers and it’s showing on the court.”
The second set was back-and-forth for the most part as junior Nathaniel Marbenas (three kills) helped Attleboro with some early points. The Warriors put together a 5-1 run in the middle of the set to flip a two-point deficit into a two-point lead including a kill from Dolan off a set from Patel on a pass from Grady Soares.
Attleboro put together another strong run right about the same point as the first set. This time it was a 10-1 run, helped along by a couple of KP hitting errors and three kills from Gabra after Black, who mostly plays at the net, made some key passes from the back row. KP cut the deficit to four (23-19) but KP got consecutive points, including an ace from senior libero Tito De Jesus Yutsi to end it.
“We’ve been introducing some different rotations and getting them in different spots, and that can be very difficult to do when you’re such a new program,” Blakney said. “They’re still learning when it comes to their volleyball knowledge. We had Daequan playing in the back row at one point, we were running out of subs so we had to trust guys in different spots. And they all rose to the occasion when they were playing in some unfamiliar spots.”
Both teams have some strong net play in the third. Ydrach landed an early block and Black put down a big kill. KP responded with a nice tip from Patel and sophomore Ben Bostrom (four blocks) got up and had a big block at the net. Black answered with three points in a row: a kill, a block with Gabra, and then a tip that found a hole in the defense. After a KP timeout, Franz landed a big kill to try and get some momentum back for the hosts but Black had a kill, Morataya pushed one behind the defense, and the lead ballooned to 14-6.
“We’re not afraid to swing,” Blakey said, with the Bombardiers getting strong swings from six different players at the net throughout the match. “But we do know, we have to swing smart. You see it, especially with the boys, you see a lot of big swings, not a lot of smart swings. That’s something we’ve been working on. And now we’re trying more and more to incorporate the middles into our offense. You see a lot of middles that are just blockers but we know they can be a crucial part of our attack.”
KP continued to hang around with Franz notching another kill and Dolan dropping in a tip after a nice pass from CCharlie Moon. Attleboro stretched the lead to 19-11 after a block from Gabra and a kill from Ydrach but KP came alive for a 6-1 run, closing the gap to four (21-17). A service error, a net infraction, and an errant pass closed the gap to 22-20 but De Jesus Yusti delivered a strong serve, Gabra got his sixth kill, and a net infraction closed out the match.
Attleboro boys volleyball (3-6) is off until Monday when it will host Milford. King Philip (3-9) is right back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Xaverian.
