MARLBOROUGH – The word is hard to find along the gym’s walls. When spotted, the cloth is faded and the year dated. Back to the ‘90s.
Volleyball.
But the current group talks as passionately as they play, tossing out key words such as culture and foundation. Marlborough is building and adding on with each match.
A program that earned just four wins in 2022 has already surpassed that total this spring. The Panthers have yet to drop a set en route to a 5-0 start.
Adding to the few banners in the Marlborough gym with the word “volleyball” on them is a goal that will take time to achieve. For now, setting a high standard is the mindset.
“We want to be the program at our school that they look at us and they see differently than other programs,” said senior captain Nick Andrade after the Panthers defeated Wachusett Monday.
“It’s mainly a mindset. We’re all laser focused,” added senior captain Declan McCarthy. “It’s a group mentality in making the team one being.”
Marlborough boys volleyball evolves from 4-14 season
Marlborough turned a corner a year ago, earning a home playoff match (sweeping Burlington) in a 14-win season. After a 4-14 record three years ago and successive 2-win seasons last decade, the program is back to playing at a level not seen since 6-foot-9 Zach Auguste (who played basketball at Notre Dame) was drilling kills in 2010.
The team graduated nine seniors last year, normally cause for a rebuild. Ah, but that foundation …
The current team has yet to be threatened, with most of the toughest competition happening when fellow orange-and-black “foes” are across the net. In 15 sets, just two have ended with the opposition scoring more than 20 points.
“We live for that. We practice every day for that,” said senior captain Calebe Pereira of playing in tight sets. “Those are the moments when practice really comes into play. We put our sweat and blood out there.”
Pereira had 23 assists on Monday while Andrade with dominant on the serve, earning six aces to go with nine kills. McCarthy added four kills, four digs and two aces, but this is not a three-man wrecking crew.
Maddox Gathers threw down six kills; Owen Ott was a force at the net; Reo Tanaka had four kills; and Lucas Nascimento unearthed a team-high nine digs.
“There’s a mentality now of not letting the ball hit the floor,” said head coach Chris Lowe. “If that’s what you start with, it creates energy throughout the game. We never have to talk about creating energy; it’s just happening on its own.”
Andrade talked about how the captains took advantage of the summer to play on the grass or at the beach or in simple pickup games. Workouts at the gym supplemented the non-stop hitting.
“We did everything we could to play outside,” he said. “I know the other kids did the exact same things.”
Too early to talk about winning a league title? Maybe. But what better way to build – well, remember those keys words?
“Putting a volleyball banner up in this gym for this year, it would set a foundation of people knowing the culture, the team, how things are supposed to be run,” Pereira said. “How you’re supposed to have fun as a team and how you’re supposed to build a program.”
Lowe cautioned that despite a Mid-Wach A-leading 3-0 record, any banner-raising is still a ways off.
“A lot to work on still – I’ve got plenty of notes from today – it will be a tough practice (Tuesday),” he said.
“There’s a long way to go until we can do that, but the guys who have been here the last year or two who did graduate, have played a big part in building this culture as well. They set the example. Now this group is carrying it on and taking it to the next level.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Instagram at tdumas1.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Marlborough boys volleyball culture, foundation solid in 5-0 start