1 week Ago
SOUTH DEERFIELD - It was the early stages of the second set. To that point, the Frontier boys volleyball team had jumped on No. 5 Springfield Central, getting a quick 8-0 lead on the back of five straight aces from Nathan Rivera.
But the Golden Eagles crawled all the way back, eventually winning the set and the match (26-24, 28-26, 25-19). The win moved Springfield Central up to 8-3 on the year, while Frontier sits at 2-6. “It was really good because I just trusted my kids to play,” Springfield Central coach Raylynn Kauila said.
“I didn’t call a timeout for either of the two [sets] and I trusted them to figure it out. I have confidence in them.” While the Red Hawks got out to an early 2-0 lead, the Golden Eagles immediately answered back, scoring the next four in a row with Bedel Abdi getting an ace and a kill from Xavier Lozada.
The Golden Eagles had three separate streaks of four-straight points in the first half of the set, as the second one came with the score tied 6-6. Lozado got two more kills in the span. Jovan Diaz got an ace and Lozado collected another kill.
The push helped propel Central to a 14-8 lead. “[I was] not trying to put the ball straight down,” Lozada said. “[I was] hitting deep corners and roll shots, which helped a lot today.
I could read the block more during the game.” Lozada committed a service error to make the score 14-9, as the Red Hawks from there on out kept pace with the Golden Eagles. With the two sides trading points until the score was 19-14, Frontier got a huge kill from Tegan Dexter.
Four straight service errors were committed, putting the score at 21-17 Central. Frontier scored six of the next seven, as several Central attack errors and an ace from Evan Maio helped give them a slight 24-23 lead. “They weren’t talking enough,” Kauila said.
“They started panicking a little bit. Sometimes when I have two setters on the court at the same time, there’s too many people trying to be in charge and talking over each other. But eventually they figured it out.
” Central scored the next three points in a row. Abdi tied it with a kill before Lozado came through again with back-to-back kills, winning 26-24. After finding itself in that very early 8-0 hole in the next set, Central slowly started closing the deficit.
Frontier didn’t score more than two consecutive points for the rest of the set, as they scored eight of the next 14 to cut the lead back down to six. “We made some strategic switches,” Kauila said. “One of my kids admitted they were dizzy, so I always love when a player can admit when they need help.
They know that it brings the team down. Him admitting that he needed help allowed me to make the switch that helped us come back.” However, Frontier continued to hold the Golden Eagles at bay, keeping the deficit at six points all the way until the score was 18-12.
Here, Central went on another 4-0 streak where setter Daniel Laguerre got a kill, looking to set and faking many of the Red Hawks out before pushing the ball over to the other side. This was sandwiched in between two more kills from Lozado. “[Lozada has] been stepping up,” Kauila said.
“He’s been our go to guy the last couple games. I think this is his second game that he’s averaged over 20 kills. It’s not just at the net.
It’s on the bench, at the service line, he’s picking us up when we need him to.” After a few more kills from Lozada and some free points off errors, Central tied the game and eventually won another extended set, now going up 2-0. The third set was much more conventional, as Central won 25-19 and kept its lead once it established it.
Their first multi-point lead came early on, as the 9-7 lead at the time gave the Golden Eagles some more cushion, as they locked in and cruised to victory. “It feels good to actually play as a team,” Lozada said. “First two sets were a little rough, but the third set I think we executed and put it together.
We played how we normally do.” Lozada contributed with other crucial kills in this set, delivering one kill which gave them a 7-6 lead and another one to give them a 8-7 lead. They also had big contributions from Abdi, Diaz, and Jayden Pena as well with Jayden Rodriguez at libero.
The match officially ended after a service error from the Red Hawks’ Brendan Carey. Central will now go on to play Chicopee Comp Tuesday at Noon on the road, while Frontier will play Ludlow at 5:15 p.m.
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