Milford boys volleyball 7-0 heading into matches vs. Needham, Natick, Newton North
MILFORD - Maybe bring in a college team? Might be the only way to make the schedule more difficult.
Because they are not beholden to a league, the Milford boys volleyball team lines up its opponents. The independence leaves the Scarlet Hawks free to set up a cupcake or two. But they are hungry for more than just early-spring victories.
Milford drew up the most difficult schedule in the state, and with the most challenging part of the slate soon to come, enters the weekend with a 7-0 record and a No. 3 ranking by Massachusetts High School Volleyball.
Of the current top 10, the Scarlet Hawks have eight of them on the schedule. Of the seven other schools – besides Milford, which played in the Division 2 state semis - that reached the MIAA Final Four last year in Divisions 1 and 2, Milford plays five.
“It’s honestly pretty exciting. I don’t think that we want to see any bad teams,” said senior captain Alex Guerra after his team’s 25-21, 25-21, 28-26 Thursday matinee victory over Lexington. “When you’re going for a (playoff) run, you can’t just show up in the playoffs after smacking on bad teams and expect to win.”
Beginning next Thursday, the Scarlet Hawks play five top-10 teams in a span of seven matches over 24 days. Call it “Must-See VB.”
Included in the gauntlet are Needham, the three-time defending Div. 1 champ, and Newton North (5-0), which snapped the Rockets’ 77-match win streak on April 11. They are ranked ahead of Milford for the moment.
The Scarlet Hawks will also play No. 5 Natick, No. 6 Westfield (currently 7-0), No. 7 Winchester (5-0), No. 8 BC High and No. 10 Wayland. They have already defeated No. 9 Brookline.
Milford has dropped just one set this season, and was pushed by Lexington, which led by four points early in the second and third sets on Thursday. The Minuteman also had a set point in the third before the Scarlet Hawks closed out the match.
“We can play whatever teams we like,” said senior captain Arthur Gomes. “Being able to create the schedule that we want, the regular season is yet again another test for the playoffs. We’re going to have to get used to playing in the later sets – the fourth- and fifth-set matches. It’s just great practice for us.”
“We need to play more consistent than we did today to win the majority of those (upcoming) matches,” added Milford coach Andrew Mainini. “Which will be a challenge. That’s what we need to go into the playoffs ready.”
Milford boys volleyball tested by Lexington
Milford raced out to a 20-9 lead before Lexington made the first set close.
“The first 20 points of that first set is the best we’ve played all season,” Mainini said. “When we came out of the timeout, we came out kind of flat. I think we thought we had the game sealed.”
The Minutemen pulled within three points before dropping the opener, then led 6-2 in the second before the Scarlet Hawks went on an 8-1 run to get back in front. After reaching the Final Four with no seniors a year ago, Milford leaned on the experience of having nine 12th-graders on the roster this spring to close out the set on Gustavo Da Silva’s ace.
Da Silva is one of just two underclassmen – along with Marcelo Gomes; both are sophomores – but the play of Owen Callahan, Ryan Franklin and Joey Newman at the net help keep opponents from making long runs.
“We’re used to being in situations like these at the end of games,” Guerra said. “Last year we called more timeouts. This year I feel like coach just lets us play it out. We know what we need to know.”
Milford has key road matches at Needham, BC High, Winchester, Natick and Westfield over the next month, and Mainini says the result of those will help the team – win or lose.
“It will be great if we can win most of those matches, but it’s not the end of the world if we lose them, either,” he said, “because sometimes when you lose, you get clearer areas to work on. Sometimes when you win, win, win, those weaknesses aren’t super clear. We’re really excited about those matches.”
The 6-foot-5 Newman referred to himself as a “baby doe” last year, his first playing the sport. But this spring, his growth of knowledge has the senior thinking how important independence can be when thinking ahead to June.
“We pick our opponents. It’s exciting, it’s thrilling. You never know what team is going to come out victorious,” he said. “We’ve always had our physical toughness with us. We really want to show Milford that we can make it to that next step and hopefully bring home a state trophy.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Milford boys volleyball constructed state's toughest schedule
