Alongside All-Scholastic outside hitter Matteo Luciani, Lexington middle Justin Cheng has the assemble, athleticism and experience to be the most likely the best avid gamers on the courtroom.
However with a 2-1 match lead in opposition to Div. 1 power St. John’s Prep on Tuesday, the senior captain was struggling inside the fourth set. Mightily.
Cheng missed a variety of blocks in a row. His hits didn’t persistently make it over the net. His serve didn’t make it over the net. The opposing Eagles have been worthwhile the physique to threaten a fifth set, so Lexington head coach Jane Bergin took him out for a quick dialog.
“I stated ‘Look it, you’ve acquired to get it collectively. You could be one of the best participant on the market however you’re beating your self up proper now, and this isn’t serving to. You’ve acquired to relax,’” Bergin recalled. “I subbed him proper again in, and trustworthy to God, he will get these two large blocks in a row. Then he blasts this ball on a fast center, the ball hits the one-spot after which flies up onto the wall. It was monster. Actually, it was unreal. His comeback was nice.”
That sequence sooner than taking the fifth set 15-12 as part of a 3-2 victory resembles the Minutemen’s focus the ultimate couple of weeks.
In a yr Bergin has declared the Div. 1 topic as giant open on fairly a couple of occasions, her 13-5 Lexington group is inside the mix. Two wins over Winchester to protected the Middlesex League title, along with spectacular nonleague wins over St. John’s of Shrewsbury and St. John’s Prep, current how strong the Minutemen will likely be. Mistake-ridden losses to Wayland, Milford and Acton-Boxboro, coupled with falling to Needham and Cambridge, reveals a irritating flip side.
There isn’t any shame in shedding to those teams. Bergin is true to call the volleyball scene giant open this season. However the Minutemen avid gamers acquired right here into the yr with grand aspirations for a state title, and the easiest way they misplaced a variety of of those video video games left them feeling they should have acquired.
Frustration reached a boiling stage after the 3-2 collapse in opposition to title-hungry Acton-Boxboro on Might 1. Their No. 12 spot inside the Div. 1 power rankings was low as compared with expectations, and it’ll go on to fall to as little as No. 15. Lexington wished to rally, and it appeared choose it didn’t know tips about find out how to.
“After we misplaced to Acton-Boxboro, the wheels fell off the bus,” Bergin talked about. “It’s arduous to get highschool youngsters to place negativity behind them in a cut up second. That’s teaching I feel basically. Extra so with us, we simply actually had an issue with that. And once we began dropping, the true perspective hit us.”
After spending all of observe a pair days later in a classroom to understand a larger understanding of each other on a non-public diploma, Lexington is reinvigorated.
There’s little trigger to think about the Minutemen couldn’t make a deep run inside the occasion. Tammer Haddad and Cheng have an unimaginable attain and athletic capability inside the middle. First-year starting setter Jack Fan, who Bergin feels is about as aggressive as they arrive, has improved his decision-making. Luciani desires little introduction as a premier hitter inside the state, significantly after dropping 33 kills in opposition to St. John’s Prep.
The weather merely wished a finer-tuned route, and a model new motto of collaborating in “smarter, not tougher” has simplified the game for them. Bergin felt like she may “fill her tip jar” if she had a dollar for every time she talked about these phrases inside the sport in opposition to St. John’s Prep. Cheng recalled at least 3 occasions she talked about it in observe two days later.
Up until shedding to Cambridge 3-2 to close out the frequent season, a six-game win streak after the loss to A-B reveals it’s undoubtedly working wonders. As of the latest power rankings, Lexington rose to No. 10.
“We really feel like we’re getting it going on the proper time, we’re enjoying our greatest volleyball,” Cheng talked about. “We’ve gotten to the purpose the place we’re feeling fairly assured. … We undoubtedly discovered (from the losses) there are quite a lot of good groups this 12 months. For us, we actually need to focus and take that subsequent step.”
“It’s completely totally different, it’s like a distinct season,” Bergin added. “To have the youngsters purchase into it after which really have the ability to execute that – that psychological perspective of the sport – it’s large. Not only for volleyball, that is extra of a life lesson, too. … Mentality is it. It controls every part that you just do in life.”
Facet-outs
- The frequent season cutoff date has come and gone. Boys volleyball occasion brackets is perhaps launched Tuesday at 11 a.m.
- It’s no coincidence that neutral Milford has the second-highest power of schedule rating inside the state. Wayland, in a Twin County league with looser obligations for league play, was first. Now that power of schedule performs a giant perform in occasion seeding, many coaches actually really feel the need for additional nonleague play is at an all-time extreme. Two required video video games between contenders and rebuilders all through the an identical league packs the schedule and does little for each program in numerous circumstances.
- Talking 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 components shy of ending Needham’s historic streak (3-2 loss) confirms they’re a extreme danger.
- If the latest MIAA Div. 2 power rankings preserve up, the stage could be set for a potential all-Western Mass. state final. Defending champion Westfield ranks No. 1, Agawam is No. 2. A lot of Central and Western Mass. are well-represented inside the meantime with 12 teams occupying the top-16 spots.
Originally posted 2023-05-27 16:36:12.