LESSONS LEARNED
St. Raphael, Lincoln take positives out of Injury Fund
PAWTUCKET – Head coaches Jane Fish of Lincoln High and Claire Baggesen of St. Raphael Academy witnessed pretty much what they expected when their two squads met in a campaignopening R.I. Injury Fund clash at Alumni Hall on Wednesday afternoon.
Given the fact both mentors had conducted a minimal amount of practices at this early juncture of the spring season, they anticipated a lot of unforced errors. The reason: They’re each still trying to find their team chemistry, and in what positions on the court certain players will have the most success.
One thing’s for sure: Neither club lacked intensity during the Saints’ come-frombehind 2-1 triumph.
“Considering I have two players on my team who have never played the sport before, I thought we played pretty well,” Fish stated after the 14-25, 25-20, 15-13 defeat. “I was very happy with the way we played, but we need to gain more consistency; that will come with practice.
“There were certain points in the match where we lost our focus,” she added. “In the second game, we came back from a 10-point deficit to tie it up, and I’m thrilled with that, but we have to maintain that control and consistency. I know they have a lot of fight in them because I saw it here. We have to remain focused.”
Offered SRA senior Xavian Johnson: “This was our first match of the season, and it’s been a while since we all played together; that was last season, so it’s been a long time. Coach told us for our first match, we weren’t too bad. She also said we’re going to use the good aspects of it and try to build on it for the rest of the season.”
For the victors, senior Patrick Bullen registered seven kills, three blocks and two aces, while classmate Jeff Cifuentes, Johnson and sophomore Pablo Uribe made other significant contributions.
Leading the Lions’ cause were seniors Aidan Enright (eight kill) and Zach Carvalho (six kills), not to mention juniors Charles Fish, Ryan Tougas and Dan Hasegawa.
“I like the fact we creating a culture of hard work and learning, and following it,” Baggesen noted afterward. “I think the guys are impressed that I’m a woman, but I don’t coach like one. I believe that their perception would be that I’d be easier on them, more lenient, but I’m going to be as tough on them as a man.
“I think they’re coming to have more respect for me because I coach like a coach, and I have expectations for them and from them,” she added. “I told them, ‘Don’t think. React.’ When it ended, I told them we’re going in the right direction, and I wanted them to take it one day at a time. I want our attitude to be collective – mutual respect, dignity, character and devotion to the program.”
The Lions showed all of those attributes in the first game, jumping out to a 19-13 cushion on the strength of solid communication and hitting. When the player Fish went to the service stripe with that lead, he opened it with an ace, then strung together three more points on SRA unforced miscues before his serve sailed wide.
Ahead 24-14 after another Saints’ passing error, Lincoln sealed it when senior Jefferson Pun couldn’t convert a pass into a kill.
Whatever Baggesen’s talk included between the opening and second games worked wonders. Sophomore Aaron Flynn broke a 1-all tie with four consecutive service points, and after officials whistled a Lion for hitting the net, Cifuentes served up five more to give the Saints an 11-2 advantage.
Bullen’s ace sliced it to 13-4, though a long, dramatic rally between the two fell in favor of Lincoln, which at that point led 15-5.
Senior Levi Tracy should’ve maintained his serve, but junior Eric Martineau took over that obligation and scored. Referees immediately called an illegal “serving out of order” penalty and deemed a loss of point.
SRA seemed out of sorts after that, as Carvalho drilled two aces to knife it to 14-8. Incredibly, Tougas managed seven more points on his serve, handing the Lions the 17-15 advantage.
Johnson’s block forced the sideout, and – with the same kid at the stripe – the Saints utilized Bullen’s wicked spike, then two kills off blocks, regain the lead at 20-17.
Twice after that, Lincoln cut the deficit to two points, the last at 22-20, before Bullen closed the 25-20 win with an ace.
The Lions jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on Hasegawa’s service, but Johnson again answered with seven of his own to push SRA in front, 8-4. Coach Fish’s bunch fought back to make it 10-9 on a pair of unforced errors, and the visitors actually knotted it at 12-12 following Tougas’ ace.
The Saints clinched it when Cifuentes made a miraculous, back-to-the-net kill to collect the 13-12 lead, and LHS delivered a pair of unforced miscues.