Volleyball scores can be deceptive and the Division One Boys Volleyball contest Monday night in Warwick featuring unbeaten league leader Bishop Hendricken (10-0) and third-place Mount St. Charles (10-3) was no exception with 25-17, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-18 win by the Hawks.
“This shows we can play with them, but they are clearly the best team in the division and the state right now," said Mounties head coach Josh D’Abate. “Games one and two were close, but I think any of those games could have gone either way.”
In a well-played first game with a mere one service error between the squads, the Hawks soared ahead by as much as 9 points and never trailed, mostly on an array of tips, kills and blocks from the powerful front line play of John Kane, Ted Seufert and Sebastian Noordzy.
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The Mounties trimmed a 10-4 margin to 10-8 on a winning hit by Matt Koback, two successive difficult-to-handle serves by Dan Cahaly and a combined block for a point by Ryan Durand and Chris Gerber. The Hawks pulled away and capped the set with a long deep hit by Kane.
“Game one was way easier than I thought it would be,” noted Hawks head coach Michael Harrington. “It was so easy because we were getting so many blocks off their hits and were sort of lucky. In game two, they made several tough digs and we were not blocking some of their shots.”
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In the second game, the Mounties turned an early 3-1 deficit into a 14-7 lead. Libero Chris Dugas threw the Hawks off-balance with a few low, deep serves as did Matt Boni on his serves. The Hawks rallied and tied the score twice at 19 and 20 but the next four points belonged to the Mounties, capped by a Boni smash that dropped between two tall Hawk blockers for point 24. Pat McCarthy capped the set with a winner, handing the Hawks just their third set loss among 33 played this season.
“We dug balls, passed the ball, hit the ball solid, sold out our defense and made the plays we needed to make,” D’Abate said of the second-game win.
The Mounties sustained the momentum from their second set win by charging out to a 5-3 lead in set three. The Hawks took the lead after Sebastian Noordzy delivered a few key kills and took advantage of Mounties mishits to surge ahead, 11-7. They exchanged one or two points at a time until near the end of the game. Seufert smashed the game-winning point on a perfect short set at the net by Bessette.
"We got to within a point and tried to run our offense but miscommunicated a few times," D'Abate said of the third- game turnaround.
In the final game, the Hawks took an early lead and would never trail despite ties at points 7, 8 and 9. They maintained a slim lead for the rest of the game with Steve Bevliacqua making a dink shot and a winning shot, down the left side, to help close out the game. Even a spectacular dive and dig by Dugas couldn’t get the Mounties out ahead of the Hawks.
“We were looking forward to this match and were gearing up the past few weeks for Mount St. Charles and then against (second-place) South Kingstown at home,” said Hendricken head coach Michael Harrington. “We haven’t faced nearly the competition we did since playing Chicopee in the Little Rhody Invitational last month.”
“We had a well-balanced attack,” Harrington added. Kane led the Hawks hitters with 15 kills, Seufert added 7, Noordzy and Brendan Bakers had 8 each and Bevliacqua, 5. As usual, Bessette (45 assists) was at the helm of Hawks offense while also coming up with some key digs. “He can deliver the ball in any possible way and in any direction,” praised Harrington of his setter.
Mount St. Charles was led by the steady direction of setter Ryan Durand with 37 assists and 5 digs, with libero Chris Dugas adding 16 digs, Matt Koback recording 9 kills and 4 blocks and Pat McCarthy contributing 9 kills and 7 digs.
“We’re 80 percent of where we want to be,” assessed D’Abate of his squad. "Overall, we played very well." The Mounties and their coach will get a chance to grade themselves again in nine days when they host the Hawks on Senior Night.
