NORWICH — Gage Hinkley is a 6-foot-1, 225-pound middle linebacker who will drop out of the Norwich Free Academy on June 24, shortly after graduating, to play Division I football at the University of Rhode Island. The versatile Hinckley also played quarterback in the NFA.
Finding Hinckley on Tuesday required a peek inside NFA's Alumni Gymnasium, even as temperatures hovered in the mid-70s. There, the Wildcats were playing men's volleyball against Norwich Tech.
NFA, which has won nine straight games this season and is 13-3 overall, had 12 kills, four blocks and three digs in the 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 win, with some of those kills coming in the third. It was from a battle. , while the Wildcats chased.
“I just practiced soccer. I never played any other sports until my junior year,” Hinckley said. “Obviously, it's not a very popular sport for men, but it's one of the most competitive sports I've played. When it's really close, there's nothing more exciting than landing a big kill or a big serve. there is no.”
Hinkley started playing volleyball through the influence of NFA senior middle hitter Dean Bonin. Bonin, who had a court at his friend's house, introduced Hinckley to beach volleyball.
“So we always played sand volleyball,” Hinckley said. “I was like, 'Oh, I think I'd like this.'” I found out my school had a team, and that was my junior and senior year, so I wanted to play another sport. is. ”
NFA added many of the school's talented athletes last season, including 6-foot-9 basketball player Evan Keith, to a team that finished 14-8 and qualified for the Connecticut Volleyball League and Class L state tournament. obtained. Paul Erickson, a senior setter at the time, followed in the footsteps of his two older sisters, both former NFA All-State selections, with 385 assists.
Hinkley admits that was his favorite part, but what the players realized was that there was a lot more strategy involved than just getting the ball over the net.
“I love coaching guys,” said NFA coach Laurie Orszulak Borecki, who is in her second season with the Wildcats men's team and currently also coaches the NFA women's team.
“They're very competitive. They want to work hard. They're very good at being strategic. They love that gameplay. There are different ways of attacking in volleyball. We try to teach them that big swings are great, but if you don't have the perfect set or you see the other team covering, you need to try something different.
For NFA, Tyler McDermott added seven kills, six blocks and seven digs in a 3-0 loss to South Windsor on Monday. Landon Little had 23 assists.
Bradley Motel had eight kills, two aces and five digs, and Emerson Avery had 10 digs, two kills, one block and three assists for Norwich Tech (7-7).
Norwich Tech has only been in the sport for a few years, and longtime women's coach Tim Claudel is also taking the reins there. He said the Warriors had just seven players in their first year, all of whom played in varsity and junior varsity games.
On Tuesday, a full JV game was played before the varsity players took to the court.
In the main event, Norwich Tech led Game 3 against NFA 16-14 before Orzulak-Borecki called a timeout and the Wildcats fought back.
Still trailing 18-16, NFA tied the game with back-to-back kills from Hinkley. The Wildcats got an ace when Mason Stolhammer's serve went straight to the left sideline, eventually tying the game at 20-20.
Gavin Hecker recorded the NFA match point with a block.
“They have great hitters and great setters,” Claudel said of the NFA. “We had to play pretty close to perfect. You can't give them points, you can't give them anything soft, because they just take it and slam it back at you. .”
Norwich Tech needs one more win to qualify for the league and state tournaments.
Meanwhile, NFA has developed a following among the student body, with crowds recently donating more than $2,000 to a Cycle for Survival fundraiser.
“There's a lot more skill,” said NFA's McDermott. “At the end of the day, it's about how consistent you are in the game, that's what really matters. That's how you win games.
“We want as many people as possible to try out. The more people we have, the more talent we can have and the better season we can have. … To the people here, I think it's really important for people to actually witness how different this game is from what people think it is. It's definitely growing.”
v.fulkerson@theday.com