LINWOOD — After three straight losses, the Mainland Regional High School boys volleyball team spiked visiting Cape May Tech 2-0 on Thursday, May 1.
The Mustang team, only in its second year, sports a deceptive season record of 6-8, but half of its losses have been 2-1 and most of the sets lost have been close.
The fledgling team isn’t getting blown out. They also have a 3-3 National Division record, trailing only division leader St. Augustine Prep (5-0, 10-2 overall).
That’s why Mainland head coach Torie Rich believes her team will be able to challenge for the Cape-Atlantic League tournament crown.
“You have to remember we’re only in our second year,” said Rich, who previously coached the girls volleyball team. Rich also happens to be the only female head coach of a boys sport at Mainland and her all-female crew — with assistants Kerri McDevitt and Gab Lemons — also is the first for a boys sport here.
“If you look at last year to this year, the progress we’ve made as a team is great. We’re starting five seniors. They’ve all improved tremendously,” Rich said. “Even though we’re losing these matches, sometimes in the third set, we’re hanging right in there with experienced teams.”
The boys beat Cape May Tech 25-12, 25-13. The Mustangs also beat Cape May Tech earlier in the season and defeated Oakcrest, Highland and Atlantic Tech. Their 2-1 losses came against Absegami, Hammonton, Egg Harbor Township and St. Augustine.
Rich talked about her senior starters, including opposite hitter Ethan Malcom.
“He’s amazing on that side,” she said. “One of our outside hitters, Ben Christodoulou, has just been a powerhouse this year. He really improved from last year.”
She has Owen Mostecki and Carson Koelling as middles and a transfer from Atlantic County Institute of Technology — Nick Shaw — as the libero. “He’s just meshed in there really nicely with the boys,” Rich said.
“I know our record is a little deceiving but I think in the second half of the season we’re going to turn this around.”
The coach also talked up some of her underclassmen, including Dylan Kramer, “who worked his butt off in the offseason” to improve and Noah Compton and Chris Driscoll, who are well known in the South Jersey volleyball world.
Driscoll, she said, is one of her outside hitters “and he’s pretty unstoppable. He’s going to be one of the best hitters in South Jersey this year, if not in his senior year next year.”
Rich’s team just missed the playoffs in its inaugural season in 2024, but she expects they will get into the playoffs this spring.
“Our goal right now is to turn the second half of the season around and when we get to the Cape-Atlantic League tournament, our goal is to win that,” she said.
“We’re hanging in there with these teams, so if we can maybe get a home match or if we just find the right mixture, I think we could win the CAL tournament.”
Against Cape May Tech, Driscoll led with eight kills and Noah Compton had 10 assists.
Through that game, the season stats show Christodoulou leads his team with 59 kills and fellow seniors Malcolm (42 kills) and Driscoll (37 kills) are next. Mostecki and sophomore Compton have 29 kills each through the Cape May Tech game.
Junior Cramer had a team-leading 142 assists; Compton is next with 53. Digs are spread around the Mustang team. Senior Shaw has the most at 76. Malcolm has 56, Christodoulou 50, senior Koelling 49, Cramer 47 and Compton 40.
Mustangs beat Seneca
On Saturday morning, the Mustang boys beat Seneca in a close three-set match.
Mainland won the first set 25-21, lost the second 25-18, then came back and won the third set 25-20 to give the team its sixth win of the season.
Driscoll had 18 kills, Koelling 10 digs and Kramer had 25 assists.
Their next game is at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 8, at home against Cedar Creek. The Mustangs lost a close match to the Pirates the first time they played — 25-21, 25-22.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
