NATICK — Newton North boys volleyball coach Nile Fox wasn’t even sure at the beginning of the season if he would carry sophomore Brady Dwyer on varsity.
But when missing star setter Tyler Randall for a second straight game due to injury Thursday night, it was Dwyer’s name the Tigers loudly chanted following their biggest win yet this season.
With 20 assists and three signature blocks, Dwyer helped lead a scrappy Newton North effort to edge out a 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17) win over Natick as revenge for a loss to the RedHawks earlier in the year. He paired with fellow setter Joaquin Cuevas-Torres (21 assists, ace) to feed star hitters Simon Vardeh (21 kills, two blocks) and Adam Christianson (13 kills), while a large cast of characters similarly stepped up to overcome the fellow Div. 1 title contender.
Considering an hour-late arrival due to bus issues contributed to slow starts in each of the first two sets, Fox was thoroughly impressed with his team.
Especially Dwyer.
“I think Tyler being out has pushed us to play better than we have,” Fox said. “We needed (Dwyer). … He’s been doing his job, he’s been going out there and working hard. As an underclassmen coming in, he’s just really working hard.
“This is definitely a confidence booster that’s saying we can play with anybody in the state. (Natick) is one of the best in the state.”
Without head coach Peter Suxho for just the one game, Natick looked in control early on through its normal success in the 6-2 rotation. Harrison Landry (22 assists) and Branch Barnes (16 assists, 12 kills) distributed to Matt Salerno (15 kills) and the RedHawks middles often, accruing a 14-6 lead in the first set and a 17-13 lead in the second.
But as Natick seemed to lose focus in small stretches, Newton North took advantage.
Peter Reale (three blocks, two kills), Christianson, Simon Vardeh and libero Finbar Crowley all made big plays in the first set to rally back to a 14-13 deficit. Christianson harnessed the momentum into five kills the rest of the frame, pairing with Vardeh’s three to secure a 25-22 win despite a 20-18 deficit in crunch time.
The second set saw much of the same, with Paul Nelson (10 kills) keeping Newton North afloat before Natick started pulling away on a Salerno heater. Reale picked up a block and a kill, Vardeh followed with three more kills and the Tigers ended a 25-23 win on a 12-6 run.
“A lot of people really stepped up,” Vardeh said. “We came in here and played our game.”
“We overcame it, they played tough today,” Fox added. “We made a couple errors but all through the game, they played and they really wanted it. … We’re just playing gritty ball right now, that’s it.”
Both teams were focused throughout much of a back-and-forth third set, committing few errors. Nelson, Christianson and Vardeh each erupted in small doses to lead as much as 20-16, but the RedHawks bounced back with a 9-3 run to take a set. Two Barnes kills finished it off.
That’s all Natick would get though, with Newton North storming to a 12-3 lead in the fourth that proved too much to overcome. That included a pair of blocks from Dwyer and a play at the net in which he forced a violation – drawing the first set of “Dwy-er” chants.
John Carroll’s trio of blocks, along with a block and kill from Barnes, helped Natick trail just 17-14. That’s as close as the Tigers would allow the RedHawks to seal the match.