Tolman coach recalls title
Volleyball mentor looks back on school’s 1st crown
PAWTUCKET — There’s no other way to say it: The 2000 Tolman High boys varsity volleyball team was one of destiny, and veteran head coach Neil Nachbar spent a couple of hours recently dissecting every aspect of that phenomenal state Division II championship season.
Nachbar, the director of that squad every year but one dating back to 1997, should know.
It wasn’t so much the fact the Tigers devoured La Salle, 3-1, on that long-ago November evening at the Community College of Rhode Island-Warwick’s Vin Cullen Field House, or that it sparked an intense, crazy celebration inside. Instead, he recalled nearly two decades later how and why it all came to be.
“What I remember most is how we prepared for La Salle that season,” he stated. “We had at that time a very strong rivalry with La Salle; in fact, it was the first in the history of our program. I mean, we had a friendly rivalry with Shea, obviously, because of the proximity of the schools and the fact we both came to be the same year, but with La Salle? It was different. It had a different feel to it.
“It was like the big brother against the little brother, the more established program against the newcomer; it also didn’t help that they had beaten us in the final the year before,” he added. “We were swept (by scores of 15-13, 1513, 15-10), and – naturally – we weren’t very pleased by that.
“Even before that 2000 season, we had La Salle on our minds; our goal heading into the tournament was not only to win the state title, but we also wanted another crack at La Salle. We had a pretty good idea it would take place in the finals because we both knew we’d earn high seeds, and we both were returning a lot of talent.
“The thing about that ‘99 team was that even though it was only our third year (in existence), we still had expected to win it all. When we didn’t, it was a heartbreaker. We had such high hopes.”
And for good reason. That pre-milennium group had coasted to an 18-1 regular-season mark, the lone blemish early on in the campaign (Sept. 10) to – who else? – La Salle. It then captured two straight playoff tilts before the ultimate defeat.
“There were a lot of tears shed, that’s for sure,” Nachbar admitted. “I was really broken up for them because it was like I had grown up as a coach, just as they were growing as players. We had to share that great disappointment.”
He hesitated, then noted, “That proved to be a great motivator for us.”
That club had finished 20-2 overall, but without a championship. Coach Nachbar, assistant Ron Enos and their Tigers vowed it wouldn’t happen again.
The Tigers opened the 2000 slate in style, then closed the regular campaign at 13-1.
The only, and avoidable, loss came at Scituate near the midway point, but only because Nachbar benched one of his premier starters for missing practice the day before.
Virtually no coach stands for that, unless he or she is notified beforehand.
“We should’ve been undefeated; we have never been a program that was graced with depth, so when you’re missing a starter, especially when it’s unexpected, it’s tough to fill that spot,” Nachbar said. “That’s why we lost. Obviously, that player never missed another one.”
Tolman, paced by senior captains Peter Firth and Ricky Frechette among others, coasted through the 2000 quarters and semis, then began preparation for the final at CCRI.
“We were not only motivated because of that previous year, but we were physically and mentally ready,” Nachbar said. “We had some videotape of them from our two previous meetings that season, and not long before (the title match), we went over to Ricky Frechette’s house for a dinner and meeting.
“I remember it was a Monday night, and that it was Veteran’s Day. We all had a fantastic meal, thanks to the Frechettes, then we sat down and showed the boys the tapes. Ron and I had reviewed them beforehand, and after dinner we broke down every rotation that La Salle had; we also identified which plays they liked to run out of those rotations, and who they liked to highlight.
“When we left later that night, God, we knew we were ready,” he continued. “We knew once we had formulated our game plan that our players were athletic enough, focused enough and skilled enough to carry it out. Every team has tendencies and weaknesses, and we made sure to identify what La Salle’s were, and what we had to do to capitalize on those situations when they presented themselves.
“Still, I have to say we were never overconfident because we knew how well-coached they were. They weren’t going to relinquish that title without a fight; we both knew that. We also knew it wasn’t going to be a situation where one team just fell apart and lost it because we had met the year before and it didn’t happen then. That was never going to be a factor.”
Nachbar’s bunch eked out a 16-14 triumph in the initial game, though the Rams rebounded with a crushing 15-6 verdict in the second.
“I can’t recall exactly what I said to the guys after Game 2, even though we had lost quite badly, except for asking them to trust our game plan and each other,” he explained. “There were no real drastic changes to make. Ron and I just reminded them of some of the chinks in La Salle’s armor. That is, when we reviewed the tape, that La Salle had one rotation that was clearly its weakest of their six.
“We also knew the match could very well come down to our execution during that rotation,” he added. “Their best hitter was Matt Lynch, the best in all of Division II. We saw that when he was in the serving position, they would be unable to get the ball to him. In other back-row rotations, they could at least get it to him occasionally.
“On that one rotation, they struggled with that when he was serving, but he was also the best blocker in the division, so – when he was in the back – our hitters didn’t have to worry as much about La Salle’s blocking. Our guys up front were able to play loose and free when Matt wasn’t up top; that was the first key, and the second was we didn’t have a weak rotation.
“We had two outstanding outside hitters in Ricky and Peter, so one of them was always in the front row. Peter later earned first-team All-State honors, and Ricky was All-Division first-team. We went on to win the third game, 15-10, and the last, 15-12.”
Not surprisingly, he still has the statistics from what he calls his “favorite,” most memorable match. Firth finished with 23 kills and 20 digs, while Frechette manufactured 20 spikes and 23 digs.
“I still call that an anomaly,” Nachbar stated. “It’s very rare to have two players reach 20 in either category in any match, but they both did. Normally, if you get to double digits in any two phases of this sport, you will as a team have a very good match. That’s 10 and 10. We had two earn 20-20; to go 20-20? That’s unheard of.
“To have two players do it, that shows how good we played that night. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the only time in our program’s history it’s ever been done.”
Other key contributions, Nachbar claimed, came from senior Jason Fritsche, who racked 13 kills and 13 digs, while Frechette’s kid brother Jimmy, then a sophomore, produced a whopping 63 assists at setter.
Firth chipped in a perfect 27-for-27 from the service stripe, while the elder Frechette went 16-for-16 and Fritsche 21-for-22. Unsung heroes, recalled Nachbar, included two very inexperienced but critical middle hitters in junior Taylor Rabbitt and first-year senior Sean Brown.
“Between the three of them, they only missed one serve – incredible,” Nachbar stated. “Everyone was so dialed in that night, it was amazing.”
He did say he’ll never forget the post-match celebration, because – as soon as it had ended – his players rushed him and poured the contents of a Gatorade bucket over his head and shoulders.
“I was drenched, but it was a satisfying drench,” he laughed. “Everyone was ecstatic. We had developed a following in the school after going to the final the year before, and we had a fan bus come with us to Warwick, so we had a good crowd. Then again, we usually did at any match.
“When we played La Salle earlier that season, we had a standing room-only crowd; there were fans who wanted to see how our story would end, and those representing Tolman didn’t walk away disappointed. This was a team that was very well-respected in the school. In fact, we were named the R.I. Volleyball Officials Association Sportsmanship Award winner that season.
The veteran coach refused to forget the “bench players” who helped the Tigers reign, including senior Kevin McWilliams and juniors Ryan Dooley and Billy Johnston.
“That was a great, great group of players we had,” Nachbar said. “But I still havet o say my most beloved was the ‘97 team. That was my first year, and the character of the players who had started that program, it was incredible. They brought such a toughness to it, and that’s something I’ll never forget.
“They had all the intangibles you just can’t coach – grit, spirit, never-say-die attitude, toughness, pride,” he added. “They didn’t care they had never played competitive volleyball before. They went out before every match with a chip on their shoulder, no matter who they were playing.”