By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Medfield seems set for another solid season on the volleyball court. The boys swept Westwood 3-0 Monday night to advance to 2-0 on the season.
The Warriors, with a lot of varsity newcomers, started off battling themselves in the first set, serving three out of six rallies out-of-bounds.
“It's been a little bit of a struggle at the beginning of the season,” said head coach Jerry Shu. “We need to serve well, and that way we can control the tempo of the game.”
After turning its serving efforts around, Shu’s team seemed to be in complete control. Medfield tallied three consecutive points kick-started by three successful serves from captain Sam Stevens, leading to a 15-9 lead at the first timeout of the game.
Fellow captain Cassius Costabile followed suit by serving six consecutive points en route to a 25-11 set victory. The runs, big and small, were a common theme for the victors.
“The targeted serving [helped the runs],” said Shu. “When we could find a hole on the other side of the opponent, that's part of the game – to attack their weakness and try to make them adjust a little bit.”
The second set started similarly to the first with Westwood keeping things close before the Warriors started to pull away. Junior Nate Koterba switched momentum to Medfield’s side by ending the longest rally of the match with a jump and deceivingly big wind-up before softly tapping the ball into the middle of a frozen Westwood team.
After the Wolverines creeped their way back into the set, the Warriors wrapped things up with a 25-19 win.
The final set had a different theme than its predecessors. After Westwood started with an ace, Medfield quickly gained possession of the serve. Matching Costabile’s serves earlier in the match, senior Max Oteri served six successful times in a row.
An ace from senior Oliver Manuel gave the Warriors a 9-5 lead and sparked another big run. Medfield built a 16-7 lead and finished the third set with a 25-11 win.
Even with the great start to the season, Medfield still has plenty of untapped potential with many new varsity players. However, with a less experienced roster, there are always challenges.
“We're rebuilding from last year and had to replace a lot of starters,” said Stevens. “We're still a very solid team, and I think we'll do well this season… We were kind of asleep for most of the game because we just kind of ended up playing down. I wasn't particularly happy with it, but that does come with playing newer teams.”
