Alongside All-Scholastic outdoors hitter Matteo Luciani, Lexington center Justin Cheng has the construct, athleticism and expertise to be the probably the greatest gamers on the courtroom.
But with a 2-1 match lead in opposition to Div. 1 energy St. John’s Prep on Tuesday, the senior captain was struggling within the fourth set. Mightily.
Cheng missed a number of blocks in a row. His hits didn’t persistently make it over the online. His serve didn’t make it over the online. The opposing Eagles have been profitable the body to threaten a fifth set, so Lexington head coach Jane Bergin took him out for a fast dialog.
“I said ‘Look it, you’ve got to get it together. You can be the best player out there but you’re beating yourself up right now, and this is not helping. You’ve got to calm down,’” Bergin recalled. “I subbed him right back in, and honest to God, he gets these two giant blocks in a row. Then he blasts this ball on a quick middle, the ball hits the one-spot and then flies up onto the wall. It was monster. Really, it was unreal. His comeback was great.”
That sequence earlier than taking the fifth set 15-12 as a part of a 3-2 victory resembles the Minutemen’s focus the final couple of weeks.
In a yr Bergin has declared the Div. 1 subject as large open on quite a few events, her 13-5 Lexington group is within the combine. Two wins over Winchester to safe the Middlesex League title, in addition to spectacular nonleague wins over St. John’s of Shrewsbury and St. John’s Prep, present how robust the Minutemen will be. Mistake-ridden losses to Wayland, Milford and Acton-Boxboro, coupled with falling to Needham and Cambridge, reveals a irritating flip facet.
There isn’t any disgrace in shedding to these groups. Bergin is true to name the volleyball scene large open this season. But the Minutemen gamers got here into the yr with grand aspirations for a state title, and the best way they misplaced a number of of these video games left them feeling they need to have received.
Frustration reached a boiling level after the 3-2 collapse in opposition to title-hungry Acton-Boxboro on May 1. Their No. 12 spot within the Div. 1 energy rankings was low in comparison with expectations, and it will go on to fall to as little as No. 15. Lexington wanted to rally, and it appeared prefer it didn’t know tips on how to.
“After we lost to Acton-Boxboro, the wheels fell off the bus,” Bergin mentioned. “It’s hard to get high school kids to put negativity behind them in a split second. That’s coaching I think in general. More so with us, we just really had a problem with that. And when we started dropping, the real perspective hit us.”
After spending all of observe a pair days later in a classroom to realize a greater understanding of one another on a private degree, Lexington is reinvigorated.
There’s little cause to imagine the Minutemen couldn’t make a deep run within the event. Tammer Haddad and Cheng have an unimaginable attain and athletic capacity within the center. First-year beginning setter Jack Fan, who Bergin feels is about as aggressive as they arrive, has improved his decision-making. Luciani wants little introduction as a premier hitter within the state, particularly after dropping 33 kills in opposition to St. John’s Prep.
The elements simply wanted a finer-tuned route, and a brand new motto of taking part in “smarter, not harder” has simplified the sport for them. Bergin felt like she might “fill her tip jar” if she had a greenback for each time she mentioned these phrases within the sport in opposition to St. John’s Prep. Cheng recalled no less than 3 times she mentioned it in observe two days later.
Up till shedding to Cambridge 3-2 to shut out the common season, a six-game win streak after the loss to A-B reveals it’s undoubtedly working wonders. As of the most recent energy rankings, Lexington rose to No. 10.
“We feel like we’re getting it going at the right time, we’re playing our best volleyball,” Cheng mentioned. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’re feeling pretty confident. … We definitely learned (from the losses) there are a lot of good teams this year. For us, we really want to focus and take that next step.”
“It’s absolutely different, it’s like a different season,” Bergin added. “To have the kids buy into it and then actually be able to execute that – that mental perspective of the game – it’s huge. Not just for volleyball, this is more of a life lesson, too. … Mentality is it. It controls everything that you do in life.”
Side-outs
- The common season cutoff date has come and gone. Boys volleyball event brackets might be launched Tuesday at 11 a.m.
- It’s no coincidence that impartial Milford has the second-highest energy of schedule ranking within the state. Wayland, in a Dual County league with looser obligations for league play, was first. Now that energy of schedule performs a big function in event seeding, many coaches really feel the necessity for extra nonleague play is at an all-time excessive. Two required video games between contenders and rebuilders throughout the identical league packs the schedule and does little for both program in lots of circumstances.
- Speaking of Milford, the Scarlet Hawks head into the Div. 2 postseason with momentum. Topping O’Bryant 3-1, beating North Quincy 15-1 in a fifth set, and falling two factors shy of ending Needham’s historic streak (3-2 loss) confirms they’re a severe risk.
- If the most recent MIAA Div. 2 energy rankings maintain up, the stage can be set for a possible all-Western Mass. state ultimate. Defending champion Westfield ranks No. 1, Agawam is No. 2. Much of Central and Western Mass. are well-represented within the meantime with 12 groups occupying the top-16 spots.
Source: www.bostonherald.com