A net win for English

The game strategy was a rinse-and-repeat for Boston English, but no matter how many times the Eagles went to it the result was the same.

It all began with a pass by senior Jerielis Torres, who then took one step back and two hard ones in before swinging her right-arm on the return volley.

That formula, which was used time and time again, resulted in 21 kills for Torres and a convincing 3-0 victory for Boston English over Latin Academy in yesterday’s Boston City League volleyball championship.

“I feel very excited,” said Torres after accepting the tournament’s MVP award. “We worked very hard to do this. I am very happy to have MVP, but this is not for me. It is for the team and all the people that supported us.”

Before the matchup, Boston English coach Jessica Acosta noticed an exploitable weakness in the Latin Academy defense. With two days to practice beforehand, she looked for ways to use it to her advantage as the Dragons (14-6) were unable to cleanly defend high-velocity attacks.

And although that highlighted the power hitting of Torres, it was junior Nayelie Acevedo and senior Yokeydi Ca Diaz who executed the passing and defense needed.

“I was able to identify two girls (Acevedo and Ca Diaz) on our team who are very good at defense and at putting balls up for Jerielis,” Acosta said. “I made sure they were in place, and I practiced that over and over with them. The only advantage I really had was not only does Jerielis hit hard, but I had girls who could defend. They are a family and they really play together.”

Boston English (13-2) began in complete control as it won nine of the first 10 points in the match. The strategy was clear and effective from the start as Torres and her teammates consistently went to it during a 25-9 opening set win.

In the second set, the story remained as Latin Academy found itself in an 18-5 hole on the scoreboard. But following a timeout, the Dragons began to find their own success by keeping their return attempt as far from Torres as possible.

Despite English winning the second set 25-14, the momentum carried into the third as the Dragons gained their only two leads of the entire contest, exchanging points with the Eagles early. With Boston English just one point from a championship, Latin Academy rattled off three straight points to stay alive.

But the match ended just how it began when Torres unloaded on Acevedo’s pass, showing again that her ball was too hot to handle for the backline of the Latin Academy defense. English won the final set 25-23.

With the championship in hand, the family aspect of it all came into focus as Torres and her mother, Acosta, shared an emotional exchange celebrating English’s ascend atop the Boston City League.

“I am twice happy. Not only for my daughter but also for the team itself and for the girls” Acosta said.