BROOKLINE — Much of the Div. 1 title dialog has surrounded fellow Bay State Conference powers Needham, Natick and Newton North all season.
But Thursday evening, the Brookline boys volleyball workforce confirmed why it deserves a seat at that desk.
With event play across the nook, the Warriors (10-5) used a gritty effort for its first win of the yr towards any of these three convention rivals – outlasting a resilient Newton North squad lacking its star setter, 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 17-25, 27-25).
Brookline freshman setter Alec Smagula distributed a sensational 37 assists, discovering a three-headed monster of hitters in spurts to greater than match the hard-hitting Tigers (12-5).
“We feel like we’re still trying to get our footing, and it’s really tough in this conference,” mentioned Brookline head coach Dana Jones. “But we’re trying to work to compete with anyone that’s here. … We wanted to bounce back and show that we’re capable of playing this game, too. They’re a great team, they put up an incredible fight.”
“Obviously after that five-set loss to them earlier in the season, that stung,” added Smagula. “We wanted this game, we’ve been thinking about this game for a while. … People don’t think of us as a contender, but I know we’re there.”
As Newton North senior Adam Christianson (4 aces) caught fireplace early on for seven of his 23 kills to assist rally to a 24-23 lead within the first set, it seemed just like the matchup may develop equally to the way it did the primary time for Brookline in a slim loss. But by executing sufficient to reply with a 3-0 run to safe a 1-0 lead (26-24), the Warriors set a a lot totally different tone.
While Christianson, Sam Huang and Simon Vardeh introduced the warmth, Brookline’s blocking – led by Cam Jilek (three blocks) – and protection – led by freshman libero Amir Tomer and Anuj Majumder – contained them sufficient to present it an opportunity in three back-and-forth frames. The first set and the final set (27-25) every stood out as the one two to enter additional factors, and the Warriors edged out each.
That features a wild fourth set, which noticed groups commerce seven straight factors main as much as the 2 in a row Brookline recorded to win it.
“They were very determined,” Jones mentioned. “We’ve had a few games where we kind of didn’t have consistent effort, and we found a way to tap into something and it put it toward the entire time. We’re really excited about that.”
Throughout, it helped for Smagula to show to any certainly one of his three prime hitters to assist the Warriors flourish. Jilek had 4 of his 10 kills within the first set, pairing with Charlie Perdue’s 5 kills in that stretch to energy the win as Newton North additionally struggled with execution.
Perdue (14 kills) helped Smagula lead a 25-21 win within the second set with 5 extra kills and two aces. Newton North erupted within the third to take again a set, however then it was Kristaps Vaivars’ flip to dial up 9 of his 14 kills within the fourth set – together with the match-sealing level.
“It’s really, really awesome (to have the options),” Smagula mentioned. “I’ve built a connection with them, I trust them with everything. Trusting them is great. I know I’ve got three, four guys that no matter what I give to them, they’ll make it work and get a kill.”
“It’s really nice to have three options that are capable of carrying the team for any period of time,” Jones added. “It’s kind of a luxury we know is nice, but the guys know they still have a lot of work to do to get the team where they want to be. And they’re willing to do it.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com