LYNNWOOD — Coach Tory Rich and the Mainland Regional High School boys' team launched a new varsity volleyball team this spring, finishing second in the national division with a respectable 8-8 record through last weekend.
However, if you give them a little time, they will become “unstoppable,” Rich said.
The team got off to a rough start in terms of record, going 2-7 through the first nine games of the season, but then posted two straight wins with a loss to Cape Atlantic League national division leader Hammonton. Record of 12 wins and 5 losses.
Most of the losses were 2-0, but there were close games against Moorestown, Hammonton, Oakcrest, ACIT, Pleasantville and Egg Harbor Township.
The last three games were 2-0 wins over Seneca, Cedar Creek and Oakcrest.
As of last weekend's win over Oakcrest, they were in 17th place in the South Jersey Group III Power Point and were on the verge of making the playoffs.
“It was fun. It was a challenge,” Rich said Thursday before the start of Oakcrest's 25-20, 25-17 win.
“The first-year team and the jump from girls to boys (as a coach) was definitely a new experience for me. These boys are great,” Rich said. “We have athletes here on the mainland.”
“This is our first year and we're on the verge of making the playoffs and trying to get a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the Cape-Atlantic League tournament next week,” Rich said. “These boys are eager to learn and are acting like sponges right now. They're taking it all in and having fun and we're starting to win, so that's a good thing.”
Rich said starting a new team is a challenge.
“The first day, I laughed and said, 'This is not gym class volleyball anymore.' There are rules here.' From day one, we just had to understand the basics. We (Michael) Gatley, our athletic director, always emphasizes going back to basics, so we started there.”
Part of the process is getting the athletes to know each other better.
“And it was important to connect the three towns that actually connect to this district,” she explained. “Some of these kids have played in middle school, but they played at Northfield, Linwood, Somers Point, and now they’re coming together, so they don’t know each other. That was one of our challenges – communication on the court.”
Rich said that was the biggest challenge in the beginning, but as they improved, they were successful.
She said coaching the women's team for several years was both fun and challenging. “But this is a whole different animal. These kids play really tough. If you go back and look at the scores of these games, we have all these really good teams, and all these You can see that the program has been around for several years.”
The coach said there are three starting seniors. They are running back Connor Cullen, setter Javi Torres, and right-side hitter Kareem Aksenov. Junior Ethan Malcolm is a right-handed hitter along with junior Carson Koling.
The coach said of Chris Driscoll, a sophomore on the team. he's just amazing. His vertical is just insane. ”
She also has freshman Noah Compton on the court, but “he's going to be very good one day.” Rounding out the national team roster are Ben Christodoulou, Daniel Tracy, Vicki Desai, Andrew Gebhardt and Owen Mostecki.
Her assistant coaches are Kelly McDevitt and Gabe Lemons.
Rich said the seniors are great leaders.
“Karen comes from a state championship football team. He's a great leader to be on the court,” she said.
“We're building a program. In a year or two, we're going to be unstoppable. There's no doubt in my mind,” Rich said.
– Story and photos: DAVID NAHAN/sentinel staff
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