BOBWHITES SWEEP VCS FOR FIRST EVER PLAYOFF WIN
By Ben Kaufmann
ST. ALBANS – After eking out a first-set win, BFA-St. Albans cruised for the first boy’s volleyball playoff win in team history via a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17) win over the Vermont Commons School on Wednesday.
The victory gives No. 8 BFA (5-10) a daunting quarterfinal matchup at perennial powerhouse and No. 1 seed CVU (15-0) on Saturday, a match Bobwhite coach Tristan Menard thinks his squad can make interesting.
“We just want steady improvement throughout the week,” Menard said. “We have some strategy stuff that we’ve been working on today and the last two days, so we’ll keep working on that and get it polished up for Saturday and see if we can make a run.”
For Wednesday, the focus was on a milestone win from a BFA team which has made great improvements as the season went on. Even against the No. 9 Flying Turtles, BFA got better as the afternoon went on.
“Their composure was good, they were focused. We got off to a rough start in the first set, I think we were down by five or six, but they rallied back and they focused on the little things,” said Menard.
“They’ve put in the time. It’s just one step at a time and we’re trying to hit our stride at the right moment. And we played these guys last week on Thursday and I feel like we played them better today and that’s the goal.”
Seth Richards paced BFA on Wednesday with a dozen kills, three blocks and two assists. Joseph Freiberger tallied 14 assists and Andrew Yates had nine assists and five aces. Nathan Parent finished with eight kills and two blocks, Caleb Holmes added five kills and BFA’s lone senior, Andrew Conger, had a pair of kills.
As for Saturday’s showdown with CVU, which has won all five boy’s volleyball titles ever contested in Vermont, Menard wants his team to play its game and see what happens.
“My big philosophy is focus on our team. I know it’s easy to start looking at other teams but I spend more time watching film on us than on other teams. We can play for another team but if we’ve got the same old problems it’s not going to get us too far.”
Saturday’s contest is slated for a 4:30 start in Hinesburg. Spectators are welcome and masks are required.
