Townies stand in Mount’s way
No. 1 Mounties ready for tough test tomorrow
WOONSOCKET — Since the Mount St. Charles volleyball team walked off the court after sweeping Cranston West to finish the regular season, the Cumberland baseball team played four games and was knocked out of the Division I tournament.
Since Mount defeated the Falcons, the area’s top track and field athletes competed not only in the state meet, but also went up to the University of New Hampshire to take part in New Englands. You get the point.
The No. 1 Mounties haven’t played a match in a while – 12 days to be exact. Tomorrow night, they will begin their journey to what they hope is the program’s first state title against No. 5 East Providence at East Greenwich High at 7.
“Twelve days off is never a good thing,” Mount coach Josh D’Abate said after Monday afternoon’s practice. “It’s not like we’re coming into the start of a new season. It was nice to get a little bit of rest and let the seniors celebrate their accomplishments and graduation. At the same time, it’s a long layoff. It’s hard to stay focused every day in practice – and you see that.”
“The time off is good and bad,” Mount senior right-side hitter/setter Paul Brodeur said. “I think we’ve gotten better in the last 12 days with our energy and our communication. We simulate games in practice, so I think we’ll be all set.”
Mount St. Charles (15-1 Division I) won their final seven matches of the regular season to claim their second-straight regular-season title, but the Mounties were pushed to five games twice in their last three matches. First, No. 3 Coventry came up to Mount and nearly handed the Mounties their first home loss in over two years.
Five days later, East Providence rolled into town and the Mounties secured a fivegame victory. The Townies, who also pushed the Mounties to four games in their first meeting, pose a problem for the Mounties because of their size, especially outside hitter Matt DaSilva and talented setter/right-side hitter Dan Forsythe.
“Height-wise, they’re definitively a bigger team than us and they’re a very athletic team,” D’Abate said. “DaSilva and Forsythe are two legit, top-tier guys. If those guys are playing well, the rest of the team sort of feeds off that and the next thing you know you have a whole bunch of guys flying to the ball. It’s almost a snowball effect.”
East Providence (9-8 Division I) probably didn’t think it would be in this position when it dropped the first two games of last week’s Division I quarterfinal to No. 4 Chariho. The Townies, who lost the second game 25-15, used 25 assists and 15 kills from Forsythe and 20 kills from DaSilva to advance to the semifinals.
While the Townies rely on two key players, Mount uses six hitters to frustrate defenses. Outside hitters Nate Asstafan and Dan Gould are the team’s top passers, while Brodeur and Brett Gould pilot the offense as setters and right-side hitters. Senior mid- dles Mike DelliCarpini and Derek Dingley provide an important presence at the net on offense and defense.
“The big thing is they have very good players and a very good set defense,” Asstafan said. “In the volleyball world, it is very difficult to beat a team three times in a row, so we just need to work on our energy, our communication and our offensive attack. Their size doesn’t mean any- thing to us, it’s about passing and playing defense.”
While the Townies are experiencing a bit of a resurgence after struggling the last few seasons, the Mounties are playing for their second consecutive trip to the state final. The Mounties dropped a thrilling, five-game decision to South Kingstown last June at Brown.
Whenever Mount’s season ends – they hope it will be Saturday at Johnson & Wales after winning a state title – it will be the end of an error. D’Abate has 12 seniors on his roster, who have seen Mount grown into one of the state’s powerhouse programs.
“We’re going to put all that we have into this last week and just hope for the best,” said Brodeur, who graduated Sunday afternoon. “We’re going to do everything we can to win.”
“The goal [assistant coach] Paul [Gould] and I have every year is to play in that last match,” D’Abate said. “This group of kids has put a lot of work in, not just in the last four years, but when they were in junior high. I think their goal is to be there on Saturday and end it on a good note.”
No. 2 Hendricken, which handed Mount it’s only loss of the season, will play Coventry in the first semifinal at 5 tomorrow night.