LINWOOD — Coach Torie Rich and a group of Mainland Regional High School boys inaugurated a new varsity volleyball team this spring and have posted a respectable 8-8 record through the end of last week that put them in second place in the National Division.
Give them a little time, though, Rich said, and they’ll be “unstoppable.”
The team got off to a rough start, record-wise, going 2-7 through the first nine matches of the season, then had two three-game winning streaks bracketed around a loss to Hammonton, the Cape-Atlantic League National Division leader with a 12-5 record.
Although most of the losses were 2-0, they had close games against Moorestown, Hammonton, Oakcrest, ACIT, Pleasantville and Egg Harbor Township.
Their last three games were 2-0 wins over Seneca, Cedar Creek and Oakcrest.
At the end of last week, after the win over Oakcrest, they were in the 17th spot of Power Points in South Jersey Group III, on the cusp of a possible playoff berth.
“It’s been fun. It’s been a challenge,” Rich said Thursday before the start of the Oakcrest game, which they won 25-20, 25-17.
“First-year team and making the jump (as a coach) from girls to boys has definitely been a new experience for me. These boys are awesome,” Rich said. “We have athletes here at Mainland.”
“It’s our first year and we’re sitting right there, about to make playoffs and right in the second or third seed for the Cape-Atlantic League tournament next week,” Rich said. “These boys are eager to learn and they’re acting like sponges right now. They’re taking everything in and they’re having fun and we’re starting to win, so it’s been good.”
Rich said starting a new team is a challenge.
“The first day I laughed and said, ‘this isn’t gym class volleyball anymore. There are rules here.’ Kind of from the first day it was just breaking it down to basics. Our athletic director, Mr. (Michael) Gatley, always stresses it’s back to the basics, so we started there.”
Part of the process is getting her athletes familiar with each other.
“Then it was really about meshing the three towns that go here to this district,” she explained. “Some of these kids have played in middle school, but they were playing for Northfield, Linwood and Somers Point and now they’re coming together, so they don’t know each other. That’s been one of our challenges — communication on the court.”
That was the biggest challenge in the beginning, Rich said, but as that improved they’ve been seeing success.
She noted coaching the girls squad for a couple of years was fun and a challenge, “but this is a whole different animal. These boys play really tough. If you go back and look at the scores for some of these matches, we’re hanging with all of these really good teams, all of these programs that have been around for a couple of years.”
The coach said there are three starting seniors — Connor Kallen in the back, setter Javi Torres and Kareem Aksenov, a right-side hitter. Junior Ethan Malcolm is a right-side hitter along with junior Carson Koelling.
Talking about a sophomore on her team, Chris Driscoll, the coach said, “No doubt in my mind he is going to be one of the best middles in South Jersey by his senior year, if not all of New Jersey. He’s just great. His vertical is just insane.”
She also has a freshman on the court, Noah Compton, “who is going to be so good one day.” Rounding out the varsity roster are Ben Christodoulou, Daniel Tracy, Vikky Desai, Andrew Gebhard and Owen Mostecki.
Her assistant coaches are Kerri McDevitt and Gab Lemons.
Rich said her seniors are great leaders.
“Kallen came from the state championship football team. He’s a great leader to have out on the court,” she said.
“We are building a program. Give us a year or two and we’re going to be unstoppable. I have no doubt in my mind,” Rich said.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
