OHS Volleyball Overcomes Deficit to Advance

The Oxford High School boys volleyball team dropped the first game 25-22 and was down late in game two Tuesday on the road against Oliver Wolcott Tech, a team the young Wolverines squad had never beaten.

But Oxford Head Coach Jeff Giovacchino told his team to think back to last week in the South-West Conference championship, when it played well in a tough loss to Masuk.

“I told them we were about two or three plays away from winning that game,” he said.

The team responded with huge kills from senior captain Tim Hoxha, junior big man J.T. Van Kamerik and sophomore sensation Rob Costigan to rattle off three straight games and give No. 11 Oxford a 3 games to 1 victory over sixth-ranked Oliver Wolcott Tech in the first round of the Class S state tournament. Oxford won the final three games 29-27, 27-25 and 25-19.

Van Kamerik had 16 kills and 11 blocks; Costigan had 22 kills and four blocks and Hoxha had 18 kills and 11 digs.

Anthony Renzoni had 20 assists and seven digs for the Wolverines, who were led by great serving from Nisal Hewathantri and Pat Cragan, and pinpoint sets from Chris Villano.

Giovacchino said the keys to victory were “effort, heart, desire.”

“The seniors never beat Wolcott Tech before and it was a huge thing they wanted to do before they left,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier for these guys.”

Hoxha said the team goes every day in practice and "work as hard as we can, and every year we get better.”

The team went 2-17 in Hoxha’s sophomore year, and last year it made the state tournament.

“This year, we wanted to win a state tournament game, and now we did,” he said. “We play together as a team, and we don’t get down on each other. That’s what sets us apart from other teams. And teamwork today really got us the win.”

Costigan said he never had doubt in the team after dropping game one.

“We didn’t give up,” he said. “We just came out and took it to them on a whole other level that we didn’t think we could do, but we did.”

Oxford, which improves to 10-11 on the season, will play in the second round at 5 Friday night against No. 3 Newington at Newington High School. Oliver Wolcott Tech ends its season with a 14-5 record.