By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly
Last week was the first week of playoffs, with seven Medfield teams qualifying. The boys’ volleyball team has earned the 5th seed with a 16–4 regular season record. They played their first match on the 29th, defeating 28th-seeded Keefe Technical at home 3–0 with set scores of 25–16, 25–18, and 25–22.
“In the first and second set we controlled very very well, energy was high, we’re playing with purpose, spreading the ball around, good attacking, good defense,” Said Head Coach Jerry Shu after the match. “Set three, we probably felt a little bit too comfortable with how the first and second set ended, so we took our foot off the gas, and that was the outcome. We started trading points midway through, we checked out a little bit of the game, they knew they checked out, which is why we took two time outs back-to-back … it was just like a mental thing, that they had to stay in the game until the very end.
Playoff game is one and done, we have to make sure we keep our energy high and our focus all the way through,” he continued. “I always give kudos to the competitor, especially if we’re up two sets, they have to compete or they go home very very quickly, so they’re gonna press really really hard, they’re gonna reduce their errors, they’re gonna stay more aggressive on the ball, and that’s where we have to still play our game.”
Speaking about the 16–4 season and 5th seed position, Shu said: “I’m always proud of the kids, they worked really really hard, I push ‘em hard; we have a lot of kids that may not play that much outside of school, so my short time with them, I try to really train them to compete, because we all try to get to postseason, and we want to stay in the game as long as we can.”
The Warriors will have played their second match on Tuesday, facing 21st-seeded Norton at home. If they win, they will advance to the final eight and face the winner of Milford (4th) vs. Burlington (13th). Last year, the 10th-seeded Warriors were knocked out by 7th-seeded Longmeadow in the final 16. This year Longmeadow is the 8th seed and if the Warriors play them again it will be in the semifinals.
Looking ahead to their next games as they hope to continue advancing, Shu stated: “We still have to play our game. We cannot worry about what [other teams are] doing … we still have to play our game. We block well, we pass well, and we hit well, right? If we do our fundamentals, we’ll be okay.”
Last year, the girls’ lacrosse team beat out Newburyport in the finals for the second consecutive year. This year, the Warriors are the 10th seed with a 12–7 regular season record while Newburyport is the 4th with 13–5. If the two do face each other this year it will be in the finals again. Medfield defeated 23rd-seeded Apponequet Regional 22–8 on the 27th. They will have played 7th-seeded Scituate on Monday and the winner of that game will go on to play 2nd-seeded Norwell.
Boys’ lacrosse has earned the 4th seed with a 12–5 season record. They will have played their first game on Monday against the 29th-seeded Tri-Country RVT. The winner will then play 13th-seeded Foxborough. The 1st-seeded Warriors were defeated by 5th-seeded Scituate last year in the semifinals, with Scituate going on to win the championship. This year, Scituate is the 3rd seed (12–7) and will be playing their second game on Monday. If the Warriors do face Scituate again, it will be in the finals.
The 20th-seeded girls’ tennis team (5–8) beat 13-seeded Hanover 4–1 on the 28th. Advancing to the second round, they will have played 4th-seeded Ursuline Academy on Wednesday. Last year they were knocked out by 2nd-seeded St. John Paul II High, who is the 19th seed this year.
The boys’ tennis team is the 9th seed this year with an 11–3 record. They won their first match 4–1, facing 24th-seeded Medway at home on the 27th. They will have played their second match on Tuesday on the road against 8th-seeded Wilmington after beating them in the playoffs last year, with the winner moving on to the final eight. Last year, the 5th-seeded Warriors were knocked out in that round by 13th-seeded Boston Latin Academy, who this year is the 11th seed. If they play Boston Latin again, it would be in the finals.
The baseball team was knocked out in the preliminary round by Martha’s Vineyard Regional on the 29th. Martha’s Vineyard is the 29th seed while the Warriors were the 36th with a 12–8 regular season record. Martha’s Vineyard will have faced 4th-seeded Falmouth on Monday.
With a 9–10 record, the softball team took the 26th seed. They defeated 39th-seeded O’Bryant in a 26–3 blowout at home on the 28th. On Monday, they will be on the road to play Gloucester (7th), who knocked them out last year when they were the 25th seed and Gloucester was the 8th.
Warriors’ schedules can be accessed online at: arbiterlive.com and power rankings and brackets can be found at miaa.net/game-day/tournament-central.
