NEWTON – With a dose of June’s intensity in April, Matthew Salerno and the Natick boys volleyball team showed off Tuesday night not to count them out whenever the going gets tough against anyone.
It’s actually when they thrive.
Following a lackluster opening frame to trail Newton North in an early battle of Div. 1 state title contenders, the No. 3 RedHawks (3-0) gritted through late-set surges over the next three stanzas to collect a 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 27-25) win over the No. 2 Tigers (3-1) in Bay State Conference action.
Salerno (14 kills) delivered his best moments in the closing five points of each set win, highlighted by a kill and the game-winning block in consecutive plays to finish off a marathon of a fourth set.
All of it was needed alongside Harrison Landry (17 assists, two kills), Branch Barnes (10 assists, five kills) and solid back-row play from libero Shawn Ferguson, as Newton North frequently flexed its own star power to lead for the most of every frame. Considering how both figure to seriously compete for the state title this year, finding a way despite those opposing charges marked a positive notch on the measuring stick.
Especially before playing No. 1 Needham later in the week.
“For us, it’s good to win at Newton, always, every year. Every year we fight each other,” said RedHawks head coach Peter Suxho. “It’s a big win. It showed me we can play better this season.”
“It definitely builds us a lot of momentum,” added Salerno. “Overall, everybody played great. We had a few hiccups but then we came back the majority of the time.”
Newton North looked well in control early on, utilizing powerful hits from Adam Christianson (17 kills) and Simon Vardeh (nine kills, three aces) – as well as a bevy of Natick miscues – to cruise to a 25-17 win in the opening set. The Tigers even scored 10 of the last 14 while setter Tyler Randall (37 assists) starred and the RedHawks struggled with their serve receive.
A similar recipe was brewing in the second. But instead of Newton North separating, Natick kept even through a back-and-forth stanza as a rotation change benefited the group. The Tigers imploded a bit, and kills from Salerno and Landry evened the match score.
What followed was a continuous reel of the two trading small runs en route to a Newton North lead midway through, only for Natick to surge past it when either team hit 20 points. Improved serve receive played a huge factor.
“We played better than them at the end of the set,” Suxho said. “Everything is how you play (at the end). You started bad, but the problem is how you finish. We finished good.”
Simon Pedrelli, John Carroll and Nick Bonavire all pitched in strong contributions to break up Tiger runs, setting the stage for Salerno. The third set saw three Salerno kills help turn a 21-20 deficit into a 25-23 win, previewing three more late points he’d score to help rally from a 23-21 disadvantage in the fourth for the 27-25 win.
“The mentality for me is give me the ball,” Salerno said. “Trust me, give me the ball and we’ll succeed. Not all the times, but I thought I did pretty well (in clutch situations).”