CAMBRIDGE – When in doubt, seniors Nick Heitman and Lucas Tan have Acton-Boxboro’s back.
Trailing by a set amid a slugfest with Cambridge on Wednesday afternoon, the duo caught rhythm in the most critical of times to edge out the fourth and fifth frames as part of a 3-2 comeback win (18-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-22, 15-10).
Both were vital for the Revolution (11-1) in securing an up-and-down ending to the fourth, combining for eight kills to survive a vicious rally from the Falcons (8-4) that nearly handed A-B its second straight loss after an unbeaten first 10 games.
Heitman finished with 21 kills and Tan added 14, providing most of the offense off of Parth Pawar’s 45 assists. As a result, the Revolution maintain the top spot in the parity-ridden Dual County League.
“When you play a good team like Cambridge, you’re going to lose a lot of points. It’s just about staying focused,” said A-B head coach Darren Gwinn. “Down the stretch, when things get tough, (Tan and Heitman) are our guys. They’re our primary hitters. Obviously, we are trying to mix it up, but they came through in the clutch.”
With its backs just about against a wall after Isaac Wedaman and Henry Bonney dominated in small spurts for Cambridge within a 2-1 match lead, the Revs responded as best they could to start the fourth with an early 8-2 advantage.
Wedaman’s thunderous swing couldn’t be contained for long, though, giving A-B more trouble with seven kills in the stanza to ultimately set the stage for a back-and-forth battle. Six straight points were traded between the two after Cambridge caught up for the match-clincher, pushing A-B to the edge with an 18-18 draw.
Enter Heitman and Tan.
With consecutive kills from the senior duo, Acton-Boxboro got some much-needed cushion before Tan picked up a block and Cambridge committed an error for a 22-18 lead. Momentum was in the Revs’ favor by that stage, and Heitman delivered the final two points of a 25-22 set win with kills.
That energy carried into the deciding fifth set, as each hitter buried three kills to fuel an 11-5 lead. Once up 13-10, Tan and Heitman then delivered the match-winning blows for the final two points.
Factoring in their combined 13 kills in a 25-16 second set, both were pivotal for A-B. But defense from everyone to keep many booming hits from Cambridge alive in the final two sets stood out as well, and Jake Moorman’s six kills provided a big boost.
“In that second set, we were kind of able to really respond and compete, and just get back to being confident in ourselves and playing the volleyball we want to play,” Gwinn said. “Our goal is to play high-level volleyball every single point and just move on to the next point. I was really proud that we were able to kind of focus on that, and I think focusing on that – one point at a time – is what really enabled us to pull this out.”
Cambridge was as tough as they come in the two teams’ lone meeting this regular season, featuring quality blocking through the first and third sets. Before losing momentum with a long string of errors, Wedaman and Bonney were tough matchups for A-B. Eric Su countered Pawar in a premier battle of sophomore setters, too.
Closing sets is the most important part of every match, though, and the Revs put together the winning formula to prevent Cambridge from sealing a win.