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Latin Academy falls short against Cambridge in boys' volleyball season opener
Despite coming up short against Cambridge Rindge & Latin on Thursday afternoon, the Latin Academy's boys' volleyball team was pleased with its effort against the defending state champs. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)
At the start of the third and final set of the Latin Academy boys’ volleyball team’s season opening 3-0 loss to rival Cambridge Rindge & Latin on Thursday afternoon, senior middle hitter Fritz Jolivian served the ball before the referee blew her whistle.
“Wait for the whistle,” Latin Academy assistant coach Hung Tran shouted.
“It’s his first game, come on,” head coach Phuong Cao replied.
Aside from that small transgression, the four-year Latin Academy basketball player could not have played better in his first competitive volleyball game.
“I’m a rookie to the sport, I didn’t really know what was going on,” said Jolivian, who never touched a volleyball before practice started about three or four weeks ago. “I’ll definitely clean that up and get it better."
Cao, who has been trying to convince the Dragons' basketball players to come out for his team since he took over the program four years ago, could not be more pleased to finally have some athletes on his team who can play above the net.
Even though Latin Academy lost (25-23, 25-22, 25-19) to the defending state champs, Cao said the match was the closest he’s ever come to beating Cambridge in his tenure.
“Finally a couple of [basketball players] decided to join the team this year,” said Cao, who also convinced junior basketball player Darren Chanel to play this spring. “I wish they had last year so they could learn a little bit about the game. It was their first game and I think they did pretty well for their first time playing volleyball for us.
“[Fritz] picked up the game very fast. So hopefully with more time he’ll get the game down by the end of the season. We play these guys again at the end of the year so we’ll see how it goes.”
In the past, Cao has struggled to get basketball players to join the team partially because there has been a stigma at the school that volleyball is only for Asians. That was not an issue for Jolivian.
“I go to school with Asians all the time so it’s not really something that affected me,” Jolivian said. “I’m friends with a lot of them, I take classes with them. So being on the volleyball is nothing different … I decided since I’m a senior and it will be my last chance to do something with the school I decided why not, and I decided to play volleyball.”
Latin Academy trailed for much of the first set before knotting the score at 16. The Dragons even scored the next three points. But Cambridge 6-foot-8-inch senior Jalen Penrose (19 kills) tied the game at 22 with a hard spike before his team took the set, 25-23.
Penrose, who is close to signing with Penn State, had five spikes in the second set as Cambridge took it 25-22.
Penrose’s mother, Kelley Leary, coaches Cambridge and she said she was happy to see Latin Academy compete harder against her squad.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “BLA is a good program. Phuong is doing a great job. A lot of these kids play club so it’s fun. Some of my kids know their kids. He’s got some good talent in the middle, a lot of good blocking and good digging."
She also noticed Fritz in the middle of the court.
“The middle jumped pretty high,” she said. “I was pretty excited about that. I was pretty happy for him.”
Phuong said the biggest advantage to having a player who is a threat above the net is that the rest of his players don’t have as much ground to cover.
Team captain Jianyi Huang said the game gives them confidence moving forward even though they lost.
“It’s great to have Fritz on the team because we really need some hitters,” he said. “Two of our hitters left us last year so it’s really good to have some basketball players join us because they are tall and they have great potential if they get better at hitting.”
The teams will meet again at the end of the regular season.
“This is our first game together, so there’s a lot of chemistry left to be built,” Jolivian said. “I feel like we could get them next time.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Sister act: Madison Park twins make last bid for city tournament
Madison Park senior twins Amber (left) and Krystal Edwards have played four years of volleyball and basketball together. Now they are getting ready to go their separate ways in college. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)
Last summer, Krystal Edwards spent three months working with at-risk youth on Cape Cod as part of a program called Crossroads for Kids.
As profound of an experience as it was, the summer also showed the Madison Park senior that she could live apart from her twin sister, Amber, who also has shined on the hardwood for the Cardinals the last four seasons in both varsity volleyball and varsity basketball.
Krystal, who carries a 3.85 grade-point average and averages 21 points per game, will attend Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., in the fall on a Posse scholarship, and plans to play basketball there, as well.
Amber, who has a 3.55 GPA and averages 18 points per game, hopes to get an acceptance letter to Rochester Institute of Technology any day.
The upstate New York schools are only three hours apart, but that might as well be across the country for the chatty Roxbury teens, who bubble with enthusiasm and spend their free time watching basketball on TV and drawing up plays.
“The most difficult part will be the times that I’m down, it will be difficult to adapt to a whole new atmosphere,” Krystal said. “I’m going to look to my sister to lean on but she’s not going to always be there. I have to find friends and be able to communicate and have that companionship with somebody else. Not to replace her spot but just to lean on [someone else].”
Amber, who acknowledged that she can sometimes be jealous of her sister, took the summer away from Krystal much harder than her sister did.
“Basically her going to camp, it was kind of different,” said Amber, who is two minutes older. “I had a breakdown and I started crying but at the end of the day I started to really find myself and I kept myself together [even though] I’m not sociable like she is. She’s very sociable.”
The prospect of playing against each other in college, however, might be a consolation to help bridge the distance. Union College and Rochester Institute of Technology both play in the Liberty League, and the 18-year-olds are so competitive that they even argue about who is more responsible.
“I can’t wait for that day because I’m going to be like, ‘Krystal, what you got? Did you bring your game?’ ” Amber said.
Krystal added, “It’s going to be just straight on, one on one, man vs. man because I know how my sister plays. It’s going to be exciting just like when we were younger. We always played on different teams because we wanted to see who was better. Everyone is like, ‘Who's better?’ But we play different positions so you can’t really compare both of us together.”
Amber, a 5-foot-6-inch point guard who also plays shooting guard, and Krystal, a 5-6 shooting guard who also plays in the low post, learned how to play basketball by battling their two older brothers a decade ago in their backyard and at the park.
“We used to get dunked on all the time,” Amber said, “and we were like ‘You know what, this is enough, we have to get better,’ so we got better and that was our motivation.”
By middle school, the twins started coming into their own on the court. Initially, Krystal played for Edwards Middle School and Amber decided not to play for her school, Dearborn, so she could focus on academics. Eventually, Amber transferred to Edwards and the twins played together.
They both chose Madison Park because of its reputation for athletics, and quickly became a dynamic duo in volleyball and basketball. Krystal also plays softball and Amber runs outdoor track.
“I just give her the look and … she’ll just nod to me,” Amber said. “It’s like that intellectual silence. When she sees my face she’ll be like, ‘OK, I know what to do’ or I’ll just give her a signal and she’ll know what to do.”
They also hone their game by playing with an all-girls team at their local park against all- boys teams.
“When they see us they are like, ‘Oh, shoot,’ ” Amber said. “They call us the Dream Team, it’s really cool.”
The twins led the team on an improbable run to the city tournament last year but lost in the first round. The Cardinals also lost in the first round of the volleyball city tournament the last two years.
This year, they are 4-6 and looking to make a strong push to get back to the city tournament.
"The fact that we made it there was a miracle. They carry this team, they are the heart of this team,” Madison Park coach Carla Hands said. “We all work together but they are the primary ones that take care of us.
“[Getting back to the city tournament] would be phenomenal, that would be their dream come true.”
And losing the twins will be a bit of a nightmare for Hands.
“It will be tough to lose them,” she said. “I haven’t run into others like them. They are phenomenal athletes, phenomenal kids in the classroom, and phenomenal people. There’s nothing you can say bad about these kids. They work hard in every aspect of their lives and I’m so proud of them.”
Being separated next fall will also be difficult for the twins, who say they will talk plenty via text message and Skype, but only after they finish their homework, of course.
“I see her all the time and its like, ‘Hey, Krystal,’ we talk a lot, we communicate a lot,” Amber said. “She’s like my best friend, partner in crime, we stick together, work hard together.
“So when I go to college it’s going to be very different.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Latin Academy and O'Bryant ready for city championship volleyball rematch
Latin Academy and O’Bryant’s girls’ volleyball teams will meet in the city championships for the second straight year on Thursday afternoon, only this time it will be in the championship match.
O’Bryant — which beat Latin Academy in the semifinals last year before losing to English High in the finals — defeated Madison Park, 3-1, in the semifinals at Burke High Wednesday afternoon to advance to Thursday’s championship match.
The championship match will be played at 3:30 p.m. at the Burke.
During the regular season, Latin Academy swept O’Bryant, 3-0, in both meetings.
“I’m sure they are pretty confident they will get a victory tomorrow but I don’t think my girls feel that way, I think they will come to play,” O’Bryant coach Trudy Fisher said during a telephone interview after Wednesday's match. “It’s a friendly rivalry, some of the girls have friends, cousins, relatives on their team, but once we get on the court it will definitely be a challenge for both teams.
"If my kids step it up it will be a good game.”
Latin Academy stepped it up on Wednesday in the final set against Burke.
After winning the first two sets, Latin Academy dropped the second two sets to Burke before coming back to win the final set, 15-1.
Latin Academy senior Kathy Tran served 14 straight winning points in the final set to give the Dragons (16-3) the victory. Latin Academy won the first two sets 25-18, 25-23, before Burke won the next two, 25-23, 25-17.
“What a comeback,” Latin Academy coach Phuong Cao said during a telephone interview. “There was a lot of inconsistent service games [for us].”
The Burke (13-4) was led by senior Cassandra Teneus’s 10 kills.
“They had two tall players,” Cao said. “They just jumped all over the net, that’s how they came back. It was a total team effort; there is no one standout player in the game [for us]. That’s how it was. Hopefully it’s a better game tomorrow.”
O’Bryant (12-5) also showed a human side in its semifinal match on Wednesday. Madison Park won the first set, 25-19, before the Tigers roared back to take the last three sets, 25-21, 25-22 and 25-19.
“I think the moment kind of got to them,” Fisher said. “After that they kind of settled down and played their game.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Pairings for volleyball city championships released
The pairings for Monday's girls' volleyball semifinals were released on Friday afternoon.
In the first semifinal, North conference champion Latin Academy will play South conference runner up, Burke, at 3:30 p.m. at the Burke.
In the second semifinal, South conference winner O'Bryant will play North runner up Madison Park at 5 p.m., also at the Burke.
The winners of those games will meet in at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the championship match at the Burke.
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Soccer and volleyball city championship times and venues announced
The times and venues have been announced for next week's Boston City League championships in volleyball and soccer.
The teams, however, have yet to be announced.
The semifinals for both sports will be Monday, while the finals for volleyball will be Tuesday and the finals for soccer will be Wednesday. Weather conditions, of course, may affect things.
Here is the schedule:
Monday, Oct. 29
Girls' soccer semifinals at Madison Park
Upper field: First-place team vs. fourth-place team, 3:30 p.m.
Lower field: Second-place team vs. third-place team, 3:30 p.m..
Boys' soccer semifinals at White Stadium
First-place team vs. fourth-place team, 3:30 p.m.
Second-place team vs. third-place team, 6 p.m.
Girls' volleyball semifinals at the Burke:
First-place North vs. second-place South, 3:30 p.m.
First-place South vs. second-place North, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 30
Girls' volleyball championship at the Burke, 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Girls' soccer championship at White Stadium, 3:30 p.m.
Boys' soccer championship at White Stadium, 6 p.m.
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Latin Academy beats Madison Park in potential city championship preview
Latin Academy sophomore outside hitter Victoria Thong led the Dragons with 25 service points against Madison Park on Tuesday, including five aces. She also had five kills and started off the day by serving the first 13 points of the opening set. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)
In a potential preview of next week’s city championships volleyball final, Latin Academy shut out division rival Madison Park, 3-0, Tuesday afternoon at Madison Park.
Sophomore outside hitter Victoria Thong led the Dragons (9-4, 9-1) with 25 service points, including five aces. She also had five kills and started off the day by serving the first 13 points of the opening set.
“I thought I wasn’t going to do very well,” Thong said, “but once I got into the rhythm of serving, I felt very confident about the game, because if you start off strong, you will definitely end strong and the whole game definitely proved that it was true.”
The victory likely secured the Boston City League North regular-season title for the Dragons. Madison Park (11-2, 11-2) is also likely to clinch a berth in the cities, which will be next Monday and Tuesday at a time and location to be determined.
Latin Academy will likely meet Burke (11-3, 10-3) or Snowden (10-3, 10-3) in the semifinals Monday. In the other first-round match, Madison Park will likely meet O’Bryant (9-4, 9-2), which secured the South division title by defeating Snowden on Monday and Burke last Thursday.
While Madison Park didn’t show up against Latin Academy Tuesday, it did take the first two sets off Latin Academy Oct. 2 before losing, 3-2, on the road.
This time, Latin Academy won each game convincingly, 25-13, 25-11, and 25-7.
“It was really surprising to us because we never thought they’d get that far," Thong said of the first match. "So after we lost the first set, we were like, ‘Come on, guys, we have to clean this up.’ But once we lost the second set, we were like, ‘Oh I guess they got better.' ”
“Today it was like we have to show them we are still on top.”
Madison park captain Krystal Edwards said going down, 13-0, in the first game set her squad back mentally.
“I would say that took a toll on some girls,” she said. “It’s like once they make a mistake they dwell on it and the next play they compound it.”
But Madison Park coach Gladys Perez Byrd has no doubt that her team will bounce back for the cities.
“They’ll be OK," she said. "Kids are very resilient. That’s the nice thing about working with kids is they are amazingly resilient. I have confidence that they can do it, they have to have confidence that they can do it. That’s the issue.”
Perez Byrd said the last time the teams played, her squad served and set the ball much better.
“They took a while to wake up [Tuesday]," she said. "They weren’t moving their feet, they were planting, they were swinging their arms but they weren’t moving their feet. It’s one of our biggest issues is their movement.
“Last time, they were hitting all their serves for one, they were setting up and hitting all their spikes, and they weren’t doing any of that today. And they had great communication [last time] and movement and they weren’t doing any of that today.”
Latin Academy coach Phuong Cao noted how much Madison Park has improved from last season and said his team can’t take anyone for granted in the cities.
“We just have to make sure my girls are focused," he said. "It’s not an easy thing, it’s not a guaranteed win. We know each other so well. The first game was very close."
Latin Academy sophomore outside hitter Alex Wilson, who had five kills and 10 service points, noted that the team has lost in the cities the last three years.
“It would mean a lot to us [to win cities] because we work so hard as a team and we haven’t won for the last few years,” she said. “So for us to win the city championships would mean a lot to us.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Snowden sisters ready for city volleyball tournament
Snowden sisters Stephanie, Elaine and Emily Chen are ready to lead the Cougars to the city volleyball tournament for the first time in program history. From left to right: Stephanie, Elaine and Emily Chen (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)
The Snowden girls’ volleyball team is certainly more than the sum of the Chen sisters, but having three sisters, including twins, on the court simultaneously during the Cougars' run for their first-ever bid to the city championships more than keeps things interesting for the entire squad.
“They are very hard with each other so sometimes I have to tell them to ‘Shut it off and play as a team, don’t blame each other,'” Snowden coach Margaret Cash-Griffin said. “It does get hard with three sisters.
“They are great leaders. They are very competitive and determined … They don’t like to lose and when they do lose they are very hard on themselves on the floor.”
But that sisterly tension between junior twins Emily and Elaine (both 17) and senior Stephanie (who will be 18 this month) is certainly outweighed by their performance on the court.
Snowden (10-2) was tied with O’Bryant at the top of the Boston City League South standings going into Monday afternoon’s match between the two squads.
Last season Snowden finished 9-6 after losing to O’Bryant in the second to last game of the season, dashing the team’s hopes of going to cities for the first time in the program’s history. In the first meeting with O’Bryant last year Snowden won 3-0 but they lost 3-1 in the second meeting.
This year they lost the first meeting with OB, 3-2, on Oct. 1.
“We’re going to beat them,” Stephanie Chen said of beating O'Bryant after the team lost its second match of the season last week against Burke.
If they do beat OB on Monday, cities will be in their sites.
“It will be great, oh my God,” Emily said of going to cities.
Their performance on the court is especially notable considering the fact that the sisters have only played three years of organized volleyball. The Mission Hill residents first started playing volleyball at the Wang YMCA around the time Stephanie entered high school and they quickly took to playing there every Friday night.
“Having them for three years, I’ve seen them grow, going from not even knowing how to touch a ball to playing like professionals,” Cash-Griffin said.
While volleyball has come naturally to them, learning how to put up a wall between their sporting life and home life has been a challenge.
“You’re with your sisters at all the time and when you go home you bring things from the court home and you bring things from the house onto the court,” Stephanie said. “Sometimes we’ll go days without talking to each other. It’s hard to believe but that’s what happens.”
Cash-Griffin said the team has actually qualified for the state tournament the last three years but she hasn’t taken them to play in it because she didn’t think they were mentally mature enough to play at the state level.
That is not the case anymore. The coach said that the team will likely be competing in states later this fall.
“We’re working on things,” Cash-Griffin said. “Before they could go to the tournament they had to learn to say ‘OK, alright we need to play as a team.’ I felt we weren’t ready last year. I didn’t just want to depend on the sisters.”
The team is still young this year with nine of the 16 players being underclassmen.
And that’s why the sisters' leadership is so crucial to Snowden.
"Playing with my sisters is hard but it’s also helpful because you know their weaknesses and their strengths,” Stephanie said. “So guess it’s a good thing.”
“I totally agree, it’s definitely hard but then again it’s a good thing,” Elaine said. “I enjoy playing with my sisters at all times. We carry the teams and that is a huge benefit, especially for the cities.”
The only bad thing is that Stephanie will be going away to college next year.
“I’m sad because I’m leaving and I won’t get to play anymore,” Stephanie said. “I’m still going to visit.”
“She better,” Emily said.
“I’ll come back for practice and try to help out as an assistant coach,” Stephanie said. “I’ll still be involved in volleyball.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Burke hangs on to beat Snowden in rematch
Burke senior hitter Cassandra Teneus collected 9 aces and 6 kills to help her team upset Snowden on Tuesday afternoon. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)
Going up, two sets to zip, against the hottest volleyball team in the Boston City League was not a relief for Burke Tuesday afternoon.
After all, the Bulldogs (9-2) also went up two sets on Snowden (9-2) Sept. 25 before losing the match to the Cougars.
“I was really nervous at first, just because I know when you’re up two it’s easier for the other team to get back and Snowden gets back quick and that’s what they did last match,” said Burke senior hitter Cassandra Teneus after her team won, 3-1, Tuesday.
After losing the first two sets, 25-18, 25-15, Snowden rallied to win the third set, 25-18.
This time, however, Burke managed to tough out the final set, 25-23.
Teneus, who collected 9 aces and 6 kills to help upset the first-place team in the Boston City League South, said she just tried to keep her team calm after Snowden won the third set.
“Basically I kept talking to my teammates,” she said. “We knew we had to keep moving our feet and talking to each other."
Teneus also kept her team calm with a cool serve. She served the final 9 points of the first set, including three aces, and served the final 6 points of the second set, including another three aces.
“I’m the captain, I have to get it in, just get it over,” she said. “To me it’s do or die. I have to get my serve over.”
The third set was tight till Snowden scored 6 straight points to go up, 21-13.
“We just fell apart in the third game,” said Burke coach JoAnne Lee-Nieves. “Too many mistakes. We weren’t getting our serves in.”
In the final set, Burke jumped out to a 14-4 edge before Snowden senior setter Xie
Boalan served 9 straight points get her team within 17-16. The teams tied the score three times before Burke senior outside hitter Kirina Laryea tipped it over the net to go up, 24-22.
On the final point of the match, the ball went off Snowden’s side of the net before Snowden hit it to an open spot on Burke’s side of the floor for what seemed like a point to make it 24-24. But Snowden was called for a rotation violation, and the point and the match were Burke’s.
“It’s really big, 1. because it’s my senior year and, 2. because we haven’t been to the Cities in [about 20 years],” Teneus said. “I want to do it big this year. Sometimes our attitudes get in the way but at the end of the way we’re all playing with our hearts.”
The win ties Snowden and Burke at the top of the Boston City League South. O’Bryant (6-3) is also in the mix. Snowden plays O'Bryant on Monday and Burke plays it on Thursday.
“We still have OB, this is just a win,” Teneus said. “OB is next.”
Snowden was without one of its best players, senior hitter Shirley Peng, and its bus also arrived late, so they did not have a proper warmup.
“If she was here, I’m quite sure we would’ve pulled it out,” said Snowden coach Margaret Cash-Griffin. “I thought they were too excited. They came in knowing it would be a tough game.
"[Burke is] athletic and determined to win and very aggressive.”
Burke and Snowden share a gym, so Lee-Nieves has had plenty of opportunities to scout Snowden.
“I think the kids were really prepared to play them,” said Lee-Nieves, who has coached Burke since 1979, minus four or five years she took off from the team. “I knew if we could just set the ball up and attack them, we’d have a chance.”
Teneus and senior setter Brenda Calderon, who contributed six assists and once ace, have played for Lee-Nieves for four years.
“Just going to the playoffs, this is what I’ve been working for,” Lee-Nieves said. “It would mean everything to get in the playoffs this year. Not so much for myself but for [Teneus and Calderon]. They have really worked hard.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
CASH serves Dorchester with a volleyball loss
By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent
Most volleyball matches between Dorchester and CASH Academy seem to go five sets.
So, it was feasible that visiting Dorchester was going to go the distance on Wednesday afternoon after winning the third set despite, dropping the first two.
“That always happens with them,” CASH senior Gabriella Caruffo said after serving 29 aces to help her team win, 3-1. “We always win the first two and they come back, but I’m glad we won the fourth game. We wanted it.”
CASH (4-6) cruised in the opening games (25-16 and 25-20) before Dorchester (2-7) responded in the third, 25-20. CASH reasserted itself in the fourth, winning 25-10.
In the opening match of the season, Dorchester defeated CASH, 3-2, after losing the first two games. The teams split two five-set matches last season.
“They hustle, they are really good,” Caruffo said of Dorchester. “They are a comeback team. When they see they are down, they want to win.”
Caruffo served winners on the first 16 points of the match to set the tone.
“It was awesome,” she said. “Last year my serve, I was twisting my hand, so this year I fixed it. I practiced the whole summer and fixed my serve.”
CASH coach Elizabeth James said Caruffo was one of the only players on the team who consistently showed up for August practices. She said that while many girls on the team had to work, Caruffo was able to arrange her work schedule around practice.
“Gaby is the only one I have that I have coached for three years,” James said. “Almost everyone else it’s their first year or second year. Today [her practice] paid off. She’s still a little bit more inconsistent than I’d like, but today her serve was on the money.
“She will be missed when she’s gone.”
Dorchester coach Amie Capodanno was also impressed by Caruffo’s serve.
“They got beat by a serve,” she said. “They let it get to them. But they hung in there and they played the game well on some levels.”
While Capodanno said her team could have attacked more, she was pleased to see it take the third game.
“That was good, we’re trying to work on endurance and being able not to give up,” she said. “Persistence is something we try to teach them. It’s never over till it’s over.”
After falling behind, 9-0, in the second game, Dorchester took an early lead of its own in the third, 7-2.
Dorchester led, 18-13, before calling a timeout after CASH went on a run to go up, 19-18.
Coming out of the timeout, sophomore Tatyana Adams served three winning points before giving up one, making the score 21-20, Dorchester.
But the Bears won the next four points to take the game.
“We tend to not get warmed up till after the first game,” Capodanno said. “We’re used to losing the first game, coming back, and struggling to win the next three games.”
Dorchester struggled in the final game, as Caruffo went on another service run. This time it was for 11 straight points, including four aces.
The Bears managed to stop the run when sophomore setter Radisha Vassell’s over-the-shoulder bump trickled over the net and hit the floor to make the score 23-10. But Dorchester served into the net on the next point, before junior Diamond Hawkins served out the match for CASH.
James said she’s not sure why her team struggles with Dorchester.
“I really don’t understand it,” James said. “They are one of the best hustle teams and they are brave when it comes to going for balls out of bounds. But in my opinion, we play better volleyball.
“They don’t give up. My girls tend to get really discouraged really quickly, where Dorchester, they fight to the end.”
O’Bryant’s Pham serves her socks off against West Roxbury
O'Bryant captain Camly Pham served her socks off against West Roxbury on Wednesday afternoon. Pham served the first 10 points of the first set to set the tone for the match. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)
There might not be a direct correlation between Camly Pham’s new pink and gray knee-high argyle socks and her serving ability, but she certainly served her socks off against West Roxbury on Wednesday afternoon at O’Bryant.
“Today I wanted to start a new trend; I wanted to start a new trend on our team,” O’Bryant’s junior captain said after the 3-0 victory. “No, I don’t think [it helped my serve]. I just wanted to start something new and it kind of went with what I was wearing.”
Pham served the first 10 points of the opening set, including two aces, as the Tigers took a 10-0 lead. Then, after West Roxbury got within eight points, Pham served out the final two points of the opening set, including an ace on the final point to win the game 25-14.
“It just made confidence for our team and it sparked our whole victory, that’s what helped our game,” she said of the 10-0 lead to start the match. “It was really good, I’m proud that my serves are like bullets and stuff and I’m just really happy that I helped our team out. I’m really proud of my serve because I also play tennis so it helps out.”
West Roxbury took the early 7-3 lead in the second game before O’Bryant junior setter Bonnie Li had three of her own aces in a row to tie the match at 11. Then after West Roxbury scored a point, Pham's high-flying kill put her team back on serve.
Pham proceeded to serve seven aces in a row to give the Tigers the 20-11 lead. O’Bryant coach Trudy Fisher took Pham out of the game before they won it 25-11.
Pham said she wasn’t upset her coach took her out while she was serving so well.
“Not really, other people need to get a chance to also play in the game so I don’t mind,” she said.
O’Bryant (6-1) cruised in the final set, 26-6.
“The kids are working really hard, they are practicing extra,” said Fisher. “I see a lot of potential in them. I see more in them than they see in themselves. We keep working at it. They are going to be OK in the long run.”
Last year O’Bryant lost in the finals of the city championships to English. So far this year, they knocked off the only undefeated team in the city league, Snowden, 3-2.
“We should’ve beat them 3-0 but we made some rookie mistakes,” Fisher said of the Snowden match. “That’s our goal to make it back [to cities] and see what we can do once we get there.”
West Roxbury’s first-year coach Jenny Bello said even though her team fell to 0-6 on the season, she was pleased that her team responded well in the second set after falling down early in the match.
“I was very pleased with the whole game, I know that the last match was a little bit more challenging but I was pleased with the game,” Bello said. “We are very supportive of our team and we are making all the effort.
“We have a new team. We are doing a lot of practice. They are learning the skills and the drills so I think we are getting there.”
As for Pham, her next move is to make argyle the next big thing among her teammates.
“I’m going to ask them,” she said. “Why not; it matches my shoes so why not.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.