Boys Volleyball: Thunderbolts Win by Tiebreaker, 15-13

It was an alternately well-played, erratic, exciting and scrappy match between two boys volleyball squads fighting for the all-important sixth or last playoff spot in Division I boys volleyball.

But when the dust cleared, Cranston East finally seized the tiebreaker game, 15-13, to win, 3-2, at Coventry on Monday night. The win enabled the Thunderbolts to draw even with the Oakers in sixth place at 3-6.

It did not start out very promising for the visitors. Even before the game began, the Thunderbolts were weakened without their strongest middle hitter, 6-3 Kegan Moody, sidelined with a foot injury and were minus a few players being benched a game for disciplinary reasons.

Nor were the hosts at full strength, either, with setter Kyle Carpenter plugging away with a broken finger on one hand. Still in game one, the Oakers battled back from an early two-point deficit and stretched a lead to 21-16 with a balanced attack keyed around setter Kyle Carpenter whose short sets to middle hitter Brandon Tordofff  usually produced quick-strike points. Jeffrey Bennett delivered a few crosscourt hits before Tordoff made a perfect block on Cranston East’s best hitter- soaring and powerful Billy Chen- and then Tordoff settled the first contest with a mistimed hit (one of many throughout the match) that still fell in for a winner.

The second game was easy to sum up: All-Kue, as in senior setter Chad Kue, who made a remarkable 10 serves for 10 points in a row on successive net-grazing, hard topspin serves, five going for aces and zero serves being returned even once in what resulted in a 25-12 rout. The Thunderbolt had trailed by as 7-2 and outscored the hosts 23-5, capped by Kue’s jaw-dropping service games.

“He had quite the serve,” acknowledged Coventry head coach Jonathan Bartlett. “I called a few timeouts, made three substitutions and it still had no effect. But we should be able to handle any serve at this level.”

In the third game, Coventry surged ahead, leading 18-13, and was poised to avenge the prior loss. Then Kue’s serves kicked up again three times, drawing his squad to within two, 18-16. The visitors inched closer, mostly behind the hitting of Chen, Kenny Chea and Jonathan Hang, often from on sets by Sovatanna Eang, and Cranston East pulled even at 25. Outside hitter Tom Brewer came through with a down-the-line winner and another winning hit for the clincher and a 27-25 victory.

Coventry pulled away in the fourth game to win going away, 25-21, this time with Kue failing to win a point on serve for three consecutive tries. Errors by both teams marked the final points and it was a fumble of a retrieved ball that cost the Thunderbolts their final point. For Coventry, winning shots included cross-court zingers by Bennett, a few deceptive soft shots by Carpenter, some hard accurate winners by P.J. Stringfellow and a few more shots by Tordoff that somehow stayed in.

It was fitting Brewer culminated the match with a winning overhead hit on the left side past two Coventry blockers. “I think our outside hitters, Tom Brewer and Jonathan Hang, really made the difference tonight,” said Cranston East head coach Tom Ferri. “They played consistently, which is important because most teams concentrate on stopping our big hitters.”

Coach Bartlett had a different take on what happened. “They ‘tooled’ us,” he said. “Their hitters took advantage of our lack of discipline at the net. At least 30 times or so they made penetrating hits. And we were not passing the ball well at net. The passes were not where they needed to be.”

Carpenter ended up with 4 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks and 41 assists with Tordoff finishing with 16 kills, 5 blocks and two digs.

For the winners, Chen was game-high hitter with 17 kills, Kue had 8 aces; Chea, 6 kills and 9 blocks and Hang had 7 kills in a well-balanced effort.

So it is a big week ahead for Cranston East and Coventry, who meet again next Tuesday at the Thunderbolts gym in what might prove to be the tiebreaker match for a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, second-place South Kingstown comes to Coventry on Wednesday for the Oakers only other game this week.

Cranston East hosts two strong squads this week: fourth-place North Kingstown on Wednesday and second-place South Kingstown on Friday.

Download the movie