Barnstable girls volleyball seniors and HOF coach Turco have Red Hawks flying high

YARMOUTH — Over the past decade, the Barnstable girls volleyball team has been the best team, not only on Cape Cod but possibly in the state.

Led by Massachusetts Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame head coach Tom Turco (2004 inductee), the Red Hawks have been to the Div. 1 state semifinals every season since 2013 except once (lost in Round of 8 in 2021), and have three championships over that span.

On Monday, Barnstable beat a Dennis-Yarmouth team that has been to the Div. 3 state finals the last two seasons.

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After the 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 16-25, 25-23) victory over D-Y, the Red Hawks are now 4-1. The only loss of the season was to the Div. 2 state champs Westboro, who have one loss (2021 Div. 3 state championship match) over the last three seasons.

The Red Hawks are looking to get back in the state championship match this season for the first time since 2018.

“We have six seniors (all captains) so we have a lot of experience and return a lot of players,” Turco said.

One of those experienced players is senior setter Sadie Wellbeloved, who finished the match against D-Y with 32 assists (157 on the season). She said teamwork has been the key to their success so far.

“It starts with communication, and celebrating every point. Being there for your teammates when they make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, it's not a bad thing,” Wellbeloved said.

That sportsmanship was evident on Monday, not only with the players on the court, but also on the sidelines. The Red Hawks on the bench had different team celebrations they did to support their teammates after big plays.

“We just celebrate everything and every point,” junior outside hitter Molly Gleason said.

Red Hawks Keep Flying

The Red Hawks won 3-1, but it was not an easy win. After they led the match 2-0, the Dolphins came back and won the third set. In the fourth set, it went back and forth with each team taking the lead and then losing it.

It came down to the end with the Red Hawks leading 24-23 and it was the Dolphins turn to serve. As the ball went in the air on the serve, it hit the net and ended the match.

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“On a day like today, winning the first two handily, and then not playing great in the third set, and then playing back and forth in the fourth set, but they gutted it out. They did the things they needed to do, and we got to celebrate our victories,” Turco said.

Although they were on the edge of a winner-take-all fifth set, the Red Hawks never wavered.

“We fight for everything, so it's the next play mentality. We are always looking for the next point, the next opportunity to get the ball back, and I think that really feeds in our mindset when we’re back and forth in those sets,” Gleason said.

What’s Next for the Red Hawks?

After a four-match road trip, the Red Hawks will host their first home match since the first match of the season. They will take on a red hot Nantucket team who have won five in a row.

The Whalers also have a MAVCA Hall of Fame head coach in Andrew Viselli, so this will be a good matchup as these two teams face off for the first time this decade.

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“We have to minimize our errors, and they know that. They know they can’t put a lot of points on the board for them,” Turco said.

Dolphins Still Above Water

The Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins are off to a 2-4 start this season, but it is not as bad as it seems. They lost to the Div. 2 state champs Westboro and an Old Rochester team they faced in the Div. 3 state semifinals last season. Also, they started last season 2-3, and ended it in the Div. 3 state championship match.

The Dolphins have a new look this season after they graduated four seniors, and currently have two seniors on the team. MAVCA Hall of Fame head coach Dru Sisson said that this game showed that the upperclassmen are ready for the leadership role to guide the young players who are on the team.

“It’s a very young team,” Sisson said. “We do return some people, however, they were young themselves, and now have to set up into the next role.”

One of those graduated seniors was last season’s Cape and Islands League MVP, and five time C&I all-star, Grace Presswood. She was the second player in D-Y history to record 1,000 career digs and kills.

“She (Grace) was a fantastic volleyball player, so the rest of the team is realizing how much they have to step up because they are filling in shoes for the graduated seniors,” Sisson said. “We have a new libero this year, and we have a brand new lineup that we have not really worked with for the past two years.”

Although they are off to a slow start, they showed a lot of fight against Barnstable. Despite being down 2-0 in the match, they came out in the third set and looked like a completely different team, leading 20-7 at one point in the match. After that, they took the fourth set down to the wire and almost forced a fifth set.

“In the third and fourth set, I felt as if the team really just went to the next play, and they were communicating as a whole, and that’s really big in the sport of volleyball to communicate together,” Sisson said.

The Dolphins will look to get back on track Wednesday as they travel on the road to face Nauset, who have won two straight after an 0-5 start.

Sisson said the Dolphins still need to build up more confidence and take more risks. She said they also need to work on their offense and some serve receive pieces, but she did take away some positives from the Barnstable match.

“Some of the things I saw tonight, communication wise, was one that we had to work on, and I felt that they really found that communication again,” Sisson said.

Contact Courtney Jacobs at cjacobs@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @CJ_Journalist.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Barnstable girls volleyball beats Dennis-Yarmouth in key Cape matchup