Lions get their hunger back in win
NEWTON >> Hungry and humble.
After surrendering a late lead in a loss to Westford Academy earlier in the week, No. 4 Newton South went into its matchup with fellow Div. 1 power No. 3 Natick on Saturday with a direct focus on those two words. And despite falling away from them in bits and pieces as the Redhawks showed off just how dangerous they are, the Lions found a way to overcome a rocky first set to rally over the fourth and fifth sets for a 3-2 win (16-25, 25-22, 2025, 25-20, 15-11).
Star hitters Jaidin Russell (24 kills) and John Kim (21 kills) proved pivotal in the comeback, serving as reliable sources for Zach Meurer (50 assists) to produce points in a dogfight. That included a key fourth set that Newton South nearly blew a big lead on when trying to close it out, but Kim, Russell and Jeff Grabowski (11 kills, two blocks) had the finishing touches to help get the job done.
“I’m not sure we always had (hunger and humbleness) in the Westford game, it’s what we tried to focus on,” said head coach Lucas Coffeen. “Still have work to do, but we did a lot better at that. … The boys did a good job of that, eventually figured it out. Natick is an incredible team, so fun to play against. Just back and forth, exciting stuff.”
Natick did an excellent job to get Newton South out of its game plan throughout the matchup, leading to a 2-1 lead with impressive first and third sets. Kendall Jackson (23 kills, two blocks), Matthew Salerno (10 kills), Luke Rossi (five blocks) and the setting combo of Harrison Landry (24 assists) and Branch Barnes (18 assists, five kills) made things very difficult for Newton South.
That nearly extended to the fourth set when Newton South led 19-10, only for the Red Hawks to pull within a 21-19 deficit as the Lions looked completely out of sync. Coffeen called a timeout, left the huddle immediately, and the players talked it out.
The Lions committed just one error the rest of the day, securing the fourth set to push it to a fifth.
“It was a point in the match where we seemed to lose those two words,” Coffeen said. “The actual thing I said to the team (in that timeout) was, ‘Find out who still wants to play, and talk.’ And they did, they found out they all still wanted to play.”