Volleyball notebook: Wayland boys avoid the ‘fun-house mirror’

The first item on the Wayland boys volleyball organization s agenda after taking the entire week off during April vacation wasn t exactly volleyball-related Players didn t run drills to shake off any rust Head coach Phil George and his staff didn t discuss X s and O s Instead the Warriors transformed from volleyball club to book club with a -minute discussion on the first third of Daniel Coyle s The Way of life Code which puts the little details of a flourishing group under a microscope A large returning roster from last year s run to the Div state final has high hopes of at last locking down the undertaking s first state title But at - entering that Monday s practice albeit against Div s toughest strength of schedule the loaded Warriors have looked inconsistent On one hand Wayland handed Lexington - its only loss controlled play twice against Acton-Boxboro ranked No in the latest Div power rankings and took Div and Div powerhouses Newton North and Agawam to five-set losses On the other it s dropped five-setters to up-and-down groups in St John s Prep and St John s of Shrewsbury the latter of which came right before April vacation We ve kind of been a bit of a rollercoaster this year disclosed junior captain Finn Bell one of the state s best players averaging over kills per match Reading that book was kind of a step to understand why We want to be steady We want to have steady output all the time The look in the mirror kind of gives everyone insight to why that happens Inside Wayland s fieldhouse are state championship banners The volleyball unit was as close as it gets last year to at last raising its own banner but Westfield rallied from a - match deficit in the Div state final to eventually take the fifth set - in a stunning finish The hungry Warriors feel they have what it takes to go the distance this time which is part of what fires Bell up after wins over Westford Academy and Newton South this week lifted them to - When I look at the record it ticks me off a little he mentioned Let s go win the next games in a row and suddenly we look like a state championship unit Yet George isn t worried about the five losses because they hopefully feed right into the coaching philosophy he s used over the years The different combinations the Warriors have played around with this year are all geared toward optimizing prospective come playoffs while also focusing on improving individuals to the best they can be George says sophomore Mason Lee a -foot- standout at libero played eight games so far this year at outside hitter because he s a growing person with great ball control and it could be good for him down the line Sophomore Jake Pearlman a -foot- middle hitter just returning from an injury that kept him off the court for the first games will play with the style that could help him play in college instead of the shortcuts that would give a short-term boost I want the singular achievement of winning a state title but I want to build flourishing volleyball players George announced From a member perspective we could take particular shortcuts I focus on building high-quality players and I think those players thrive in state championship-like games And I hope that pays off That line of thinking is also what feeds into the confidence the gang has from playing a juggernaut of a schedule which has already given the Warriors six five-set matchups they re using as building blocks The way I talk to our organization about it playing weaker teams is like looking in a funhouse mirror George commented It distorts your strengths and it obscures your weaknesses We want a mirror that s telling us the truth It helps us become better players Having a lot of five-setters it might kill our power ranking a little Bell added But on the other side it puts you in high-pressure moments all the time As you get to the state final and you re in the fourth set of the state final all of a sudden you ve played five-setters throughout the season and you re used to the pressure The pressure doesn t get to you In practice you can t re-create that habitat For Bell and George the look in the mirror conversations and the constant search for improvement adds to a group they feel is better than last year s A roster deeper than the plan s ever had under George is a part of that but experience and firepower especially stands out Bell is at the forefront as one of the state s the greater part dynamic players He s a threat for -plus kills while hitting efficiently any given night often showing he s a force sparse can slow down on the attack while standing as Wayland s best serve-receiver and an exceptional server Lee No outside hitter libero Liam Frenzel and Bell lead a serve-receive that George believes is the group s top weapon as a company Returning middle hitter Dylan Engelhardt has moments of dominance as well pairing with Bell and potentially Pearlman to anchor a blocking ability that s impressed George so far Zach O Donnell has settled in nicely as the primary setter after chosen experimentation with a - earlier in the year and Cooper Szeremeta provides key hitting depth along with Max Walsh Everybody just has a super solid base Bell declared There s nobody inexperienced on the court It makes it so weird situations are easier which is a big difference from last year Bell who feels even more of a responsibility as a leader this year nearly led Wayland to the mountaintop last year Westfield and Agawam are mighty roadblocks in the way of that again but he and the Warriors are determined to find what it takes in the end to overcome both this time around Taunton turnaround Taunton picked a great time to beat rival Milford for the first time since By sweeping the Scarlet Hawks on Tuesday the Tigers split the season series with Milford in the first year of the brand-new Hockomock League And with wins in every other league match Taunton claimed at least a share of the title a fitting product for the two long-standing programs in the four-team league I think it is definitely an accomplishment and something we put in as one of our band goals this year declared head coach Toby Chaperon The win was very crucial especially against a strong initiative like Milford This experience was definitely something our club needed to prove to ourselves that we can play with good teams After a - start to last season and to and a - start to Taunton s - mark so far is its best since a - season led to a trip to the Div South semifinal in We took our lumps the past year but are returning the entire starting lineup Chaperon reported I think this group knows we have probable but also realize we have a long way to go to compete with the upper echelon teams in the state But I know they are looking forward to that challenge as we work our way into the state tournament