Natick makes statement, nets huge 3-1 win
RedHawks soar to victory over Newton North squad
NEWTON >> There’s been some sort of block preventing the Natick boys volleyball team from closing out several of its biggest games over the last couple years. It looked like that might continue Tuesday night, too, when it squandered a comfortable match-point lead to allow No. 1 Newton North to rally and force a fourth set.
This time, though, the RedHawks shifted the narrative.
In a combination of uncharacteristic errors from the previously unbeaten Tigers (6-1), as well as monster performances from senior Harrison Landry (39 assists, five kills) and junior Branch Barnes (25 kills), the No. 4 RedHawks (7-1) didn’t waver en route to a signature 3-1 win (25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18).
All of Natick’s set wins saw Newton North keep the score close late in the frames, only for the RedHawks to use runs of 6-1, 4-0 and 7-1 to put away each one, respectively.
“We learned from (the loss to) Needham,” Barnes said. “We came out to the Needham game (on April 4) and we were really ready for one set. We won that set, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, what do we do now?’ We learned from that experience and I’m very proud of everyone because we were able to just (keep focus). Even after that loss in the third set, we all stuck in it, and that’s been one of our biggest challenges.
“We overcame it and it’s awesome to beat a team with so much talent at their home. There’s a few people who didn’t take us super seriously at the beginning of the season, but I think we just proved that we’re state championship contenders.”
For as sloppy as Newton North looked at times with its serve (15 service errors) and other miscues (39 total errors) while down a key player, it still kept every set within reach toward the final stretches.
Moving Paul Nelson to libero and Brady Dwyer (24 assists) to setter in the second set freed up star senior Adam Christianson (14 kills, 15 assists) as a hitter. Simon Vardeh (13 kills) had hot moments while middles Peter Reale (five kills, three blocks) and Sam Huang (seven kills, two blocks) caused problems for Natick, trading blows with the RedHawks each frame until either team cracked 20 points. That included a must-win third set, when the Tigers benefitted from Natick errors to crawl back from a 24-22 deficit for a 2624 win.
That’s the kind of rally that would unravel the RedHawks in other matches, but they persevered this time. Landry fed Barnes toward the end of the fourth set for seven kills in the frame and a 20-18 lead, before Landry and Simon Pedrelli each added kills within a 6-0 run. Nicholas Bonavire’s block was the final point.
Sound fundamentals in the biggest moments were key, as well as strong serving and a closing mindset.
“I don’t care for (stats), I care what moment of the game do you do a mistake?” Natick head coach Peter Suxho said. “When? In the end, or in the beginning? I focus toward the end. … In those moments, our guys played well.”
Landry and Barnes were fully in rhythm throughout, connecting for at least five kills in every set. Matt Salerno (six kills, two aces) and Bonavire (four kills) helped Natick go pin-topin to keep Newton North’s middles from making their typical impact, while middles Pedrelli and John Carroll (five blocks) played massive roles at the net.
“We faked it in the middle, we played side-by-side, and were successful,” Suxho said. “We forced them to make mistakes. We attacked them where they’ve got weakness. … We direct our offense very well (through Landry).”