FINISHING SPIKE
Mounties clip Hawks for program's first-ever Division I state title
PROVIDENCE – There were just over 13 minutes remaining during the Mount St. Charles’ warmup session at Johnson & Wales University’s Wildcat Center on Saturday night when a roar went up in a certain section of the stands.
The crowd’s eyes had turned toward the entrance, and those MSC fans, most dressed in royal blue, seemed both surprised and thrilled that a brand new mascot had graced the arena.
Associate Athletic Director Ray Leveille admitted it was the first public unveiling of the mascot, which in essence resembled Dudley Doright of cartoon lore. When asked if the administration and/or student body had named the school’s new physical symbol, he laughed, “You know, we ha- ven’t yet, but we’re going to have to address that. It’s a great idea!”
By the end of the evening, the debut seemed rather fitting, as it also marked a coming of age for the Mounties.
Behind senior co-captain/outside hitter Dan Gould’s team-leading 12 kills and 13 digs, not to mention brother/co-captain/setter Brett’s 26 assists and seven digs, the Mount manufactured a thrilling 3-1 victory over Bishop Hendricken in the championship match of the R.I. Boys’ Division I Tournament.
With its 27-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-23 triumph, the top seed not only captured its first state crown since 2010 but also its first D-I championship, in any sport, in the institution’s lengthy history.
When asked about the mascot’s introduction on this night, veteran head coach Josh D’Abate answered, “He must have brought us something, man! We saw him a couple of weeks ago at our ‘Mount Day’ (an end-of-the-year celebration for the students, faculty and staff); it’s all about Mount Pride, and people told us he would be out for special occasions.
“Obviously, he belongs here, because this is pretty special.”
Besides the Goulds, other instrumental contributions for the Mount, which closed its campaign at 16-1 overall, came from senior middle blocker Mike Delli Carpini (12 spikes, four blocks); classmate Nate Asstafan (11 kills, three digs); and recent graduates Paul Brodeur (six rips, five aces), Jason Pisano (six caroms, five spikes) and libero Matt Melnychuk (11 digs).
“This group of kids, they’ve become part of my family for the last four years, and that’s how we came up with a win. It was all about our great teamwork.” – Dan Gould, Mount senior
As soon as Brodeur’s final ace rocketed to the floor near a diving Hawk, the Mounties mobbed and hugged each other before falling to the hardwood. They then raced under the net to their fan section and applauded for their support, and D’Abate’s wife Lindsay brought down their five-year-old son, Alex, who embraced his pop.
(Alex later spent so much time trying to pull the gold medal from around his dad’s neck, D’Abate gave it to him. He then ran away showing off his new ware).
“We’ve never won a state title before (Saturday); this is incredible!” Dan Gould stated after he and his brother accepted the state championship trophy and medallions. “I’ve been playing volleyball since I was four years old, being coached by my father (Paul, D’Abate’s prized assistant). I started mimicking all the great players I used to watch on TV, or guys my dad coached.
“Honestly, it feels better than I thought it would,” he added. “This group of kids, they’ve become part of my family for the last four years, and that’s how we came up with a win. It was all about our great teamwork.”
Offered Brodeur: “Oh, my God! I can’t believe what just happened. We worked our butts off for this for so long. Some of us have known each other since the fourth or fifth grade, and we’ve talked about this – winning a state championship – at least since our freshman year. This has been the goal of Josh, Mr. Gould and all of us for so long.
“They key in this one was communication, hard work and putting everything on the line.”
Senior outside hitter Steve Costantino, a beast on the front line, paced the second-ranked Hawks (14-3) with 22 kills, six digs and two blocks, while classmates Giovanni Zabatta and Zach Fraser both mustered seven spikes and two caroms.
“We’ve been working for this for so long,” D’Abate confessed. “We came up a couple of points last year against South Kingstown, losing 17-15, in the fifth game. We had to get the heartbreak out of our heads coming into this year, and that wasn’t easy, but I’m so proud of these kids.
“We’ve always been in the hunt (since moving up), but this group, it’s just unbelievable,” he continued. “They’re not very big (in stature), but they’ve got the biggest hearts I’ve ever witnessed.”
The road to the title, however, proved to be rocky at first, as Hendricken jumped out to a 6-0 cushion on Zabatta’s serve. MSC, however, managed to come back from an 8-3 deficit on Melnychuk’s five straight points, and eventually took its first lead at 11-10 and eventually increased it to 15-12, yet a Fraser block gave the advantage back to the Hawks at 20-19.
In a game that delivered 10 ties and three lead changes, the Mounties earned three match points before finally nailing down the first, 27-25. It came when Costantino and senior Nick Chihlas combined to block a kill out of bounds.
Unlike the opener, the higher seed came out firing with leads of 3-0 and 4-1. Still, Hendricken fought back to knot it at 5-5, but Brodeur produced three points on his serve and Dan Gould another to push the cushion to 11-7.
It came of no surprise that the Hawks came back to knot it for the third time at 16-all, and it remained tight until Dan Gould collected three straight service points to increase the lead to 24-19. After officials whistled a Mount player for grazing the netting, Hendricken junior Jose Lamendola smoked a spike off the cord and wide to give MSC the 25-20 victory and a two-set advantage.
D’Abate’s bunch started strong again in the third, grabbing a 3-1 lead, though the Hawks switched the momentum quickly as senior setter Alex DiLucia assembled eight straight points on serve to make it 10-3.
That, though, was just the start of an epic set. Trailing 20-16, Dan Gould walloped a kill off an attempted block and Melnychuk claimed three points with his service to tie it at 20-20.
On the very next point, Chihlas knocked a spike into the net to give the Mount the lead, and Brett Gould’s dink extended it to 23-21.
Yet following eight deadlocks and four lead changes, head coach Mike Harrington’s crew fought back to win it at 28-26, courtesy of a DiLucia block of a Delli Carpini kill and Costantino’s punch down the net.
Early on in the fourth set, the two squads battled to six ties and four lead switches before the new champs eventually began to pull away. The Mount took its last advantage at 10-9 when Lamendola’s kill try sailed wide. The Hawks did come back to knot it for the ninth time at 23-23, but a player’s spike flew out of bounds before Brodeur bashed the ace to seal it.
“Coach had told us before the match that we had to play really good defense if we wanted to win it, and I thought we did a great job of that,” DelliCarpini explained. “We got to a lot of hard-to-get-to digs, and that made all the difference.
“When we lost last year (in such heartbreaking fashion), I was upset; we all were,” he added. “I also took it as an opportunity to work harder and try the best I could. After all, it was my senior year.”
Stated D’Abate: “The difference was our poise under pressure and our defense. I had told the kids before that we had to find Costantino and keep him at bay. He’s their top hitter, and probably their best all-around player. We couldn’t allow him to swing freely. We did that at their place (on May 7) and we paid for it.
“We knew he was going to try to take it to us, and he did in spots, but we did a really nice job of defending their power.”