Cohesion carried Nipmuc girls volleyball in undefeated start
MARLBOROUGH – Right sock. Left sock. Right shoe. Left shoe.
Nipmuc setter Katelyn Julian follows the same pattern before every volleyball game. She calls it a "weird superstition," but it's worked so far. The Warriors started the season 16-0 and have lost just two sets against Hopedale on Sept. 29. It's been quite the run.
"We're definitely aware of it. We definitely feel the pressure sometimes," Julian said. "We just try to stay calm."
Warriors coach Brian Berard marvels at how serene his team stays even in such a chaotic sport. Emotion fuels volleyball and can buoy teams or overwhelm them. Nipmuc keeps itself in check even when a set isn't going its way.
"It seems to have been a pattern with us this year where we start off horribly and we're chasing five, six, seven points, against Wachusett before I could blink we were down 12," Berard said. "And I'm like 'Oh boy, here we go.'"
The Warriors stayed in that set and fought all the way back, sweeping Wachusett. Nipmuc's core has been together for so long, there isn't much they haven't seen. Eleven of the 12 players on the roster return from a year ago. Four have played all four years on varsity, while an additional three have been with the program for three seasons. Many also played club volleyball together with the CMass Juniors program in Marlborough.
"We're really close outside of volleyball, and we just work really well together," senior Dana Schechter said. "Even when we're battling or we're behind in sets, I have this feeling in the back of my mind that we're all there for each other and we can pull through and make comebacks."
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Belief will only take a team so far, though. Nipmuc launches its primary weapon for erasing deficits or putting teams away at the service line. The Warriors have 193 aces on the season accounting for 15.9 percent of their serves. Julian leads the team with 65, but six other Warriors are in double digits. It's not just aces, too. Serving consistently and not giving other teams free points keeps Nipmuc's runs going, and tough serving leads to free balls that allow the Warriors to run their offense quickly and efficiently.
"The body language doesn't fold. They don't get too out of their minds. All we need is the next ball back, and then we keep the ball in play," Berard said. "The mental toughness this team has, they don't get down, they're never out of it."
Having a setter as composed as Julian does wonders, as well. She set the program's career assist record this season (1,371 and counting) while averaging 7.2 assists per set.
"I have been blessed with setters. If you have a good setter, that's the foundation to everything, as far as I'm concerned," Berard said. "She's got beautiful hands. She's very smart. That's one of the reasons why she's the captain because people do follow her and she's go one of the greatest serves in the league. Nothing, nothing scares her. She's fearless. We've been blessed."
Nipmuc's stable of hitters also provide her plenty of options to confound the defense. Schechter is Julian's main target putting down 3.7 kills per game, but there are three Warriors that average at least a kill a game and two more within percentage points.
The back row also keeps the passing lanes consistent and pulls balls out of dangerous areas.
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"We're all good at our jobs," Schechter said. "When you have all three pieces then you really have a good recipe to succeed."
Nipmuc's formula will be tested harshly going forward. The Warriors close the regular season with Millbury and Algonquin and will be the No. 3 seed in the CMADA Class A tournament behind Shrewsbury and Algonquin. Nimpuc opted up into the larger classification after winning last year's Class B title over Blackstone Valley Tech to test itself before the Division 3 state tournament.
"We feel like we've already beaten everybody down here in Division 2 (Class B)," Berard said. "Let's go out and play those teams to get us ready for states, which is a little bit more important."
The Warriors are currently the No. 2 seed behind Medfield but have flirted with the No. 1 spot all year. They reached the Division 4 quarterfinals a year ago. The goal is to keep this run going even longer, as long as possible.
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"It's our senior season. It's our last time wearing Nipmuc jerseys. We're not trying to take that for granted," Julian said. "We're all very close, and we want to do this for each other. That's what making it so special."
Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Nipmuc girls volleyball buoyed by bonds forged by returners
