Tapping pedigree to reach volleyball's elite
Lincoln-Sudbury relies on Corwin
Even as volleyball evolved over the last decade into a year-round commitment for the area's premier players, Drew Corwin has managed to stay one step ahead.
Many players are not exposed to an organized level of volleyball until at least junior high. But Corwin was courtside when he was 3 weeks old. And the game has been part of his life as long as the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High senior can remember.
His father, Glenn, was a star player in the area and now is a volleyball referee; his mother, Judy, is the highly successful longtime coach of the Lincoln-Sudbury girls' program and previously coached the boys' team.
As a toddler, Drew Corwin frequently hung out in a front pouch attached to his mother. Or a junior-varsity player would baby-sit him during the varsity action. His toys often were little volleyballs. Later, he played "pepper" in the gym while Judy Corwin coached her high school squad.
But, in spite of his pedigree and long exposure to the sport, his interest as an athlete was with soccer, basketball, and baseball; he saw volleyball only as a casual pastime. It took an outside influence to ignite a serious interest.
At the behest of his mother, 13-year-old Drew tried out for Beantown Volleyball, an elite Boston-based club. Playing for Karin Chue in an atmosphere that Drew deemed "fun," he grew to love the game and became tight with a group of players who call themselves, simply, "the core" - Alex Petty (Wayland High), Patrick Tom and Jamison Chue (Newton South), Andrew Payne (Quincy), and Jeremy Velazquez (Chelmsford).
"We're volleyball junkies," Drew Corwin said with a laugh. And very good. Chue, Corwin, Payne, and Velazquez are returning Globe All-Scholastics, and Petty is a returning Dual County League all-star.
Soon enough - heck, nearly overnight - Drew was skipping baseball practices, sometimes even ducking out after one-third of a game, just to practice with Chue and his new group of friends.
"He told me at 14 that I got him going and to really love the game, but I give it all to him," said Karin Chue, an assistant coach at Newton South. "It was him and the rest of those kids that drove themselves and became passionate. If I was a catalyst, that's great."
Corwin says, "She was like a second mother."
The 5-foot-11-inch Drew has evolved into one of the state's best all-around players and will play next year at Rivier College, a powerful Division 3 program in Nashua. He's also a volunteer assistant on his mother's Lincoln-Sudbury girls' team.
Last spring, when he spearheaded Lincoln-Sudbury's drive to a 21-1 season and the Central sectional final against eventual state champion Natick, he led the Warriors in kills with 190, and was tied for second in kill percentage at 46 percent.
"He's just fun to watch. You never know what he's going to do next," said Newton South coach Todd Elwell, whose Lions dropped a 3-1 decision to the Warriors on April 3. "Even though you're getting beat by him, you can't help but say, 'Wow.' "
Natick High coach Peter Suxho, who coaches Corwin's Beantown team in the winter, said: "He is a complete player - technique, strategy, he knows everything. I think he's a good player."
His own coach, Elizabeth "Bunny" McClung, considers Corwin one of the eight best players she's coached - and that includes her teams at Needham, and most notably Eric Johnson, now suiting up at tight end for the New Orleans Saints.
Corwin is one of the smartest she's fielded, has a great vertical leap, and extensive floor coverage, she says.
But, really, that's just the start. This year's edition of the Warriors is the deepest team McClung has fielded in her eight years at Lincoln-Sudbury, with eight seniors on the squad. Two of them - setter Danny Letizi and middle hitter Luke Rathjens - are also on her top 10 list.
"Usually, we'll have a handful of really top players, and then position players to fill out with roles," said McClung, who had Lincoln-Sudbury off to an 8-1 start this spring as of last week. "But these guys are all hitting, blocking, defending, and serving well. They're deep, well-developed players. The pieces are there, and they're good. It's a really good setup."
So while Letizi and Rathjens are right up there with Corwin as among her best ever, what is turning heads is Corwin's jump serve. His delivery balances enough power and finesse to keep the defense on edge.
"I'd say without a doubt he has one of the best jump serves in the state," said his mother.
Biased? Hardly.
Elwell is actually more emphatic in that same assertion.
"He's got the best jump serve in the state of Massachusetts, no doubt about it." 