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NORTH KINGSTOWN — North Kingstown volleyball might be the team nobody wants to see.
There’s the legacy, and the standard, of playing during the final week of the season. North Kingstown knows it has that experience on its side every June and now the Skippers are playing their best volleyball of the season.
North Kingstown had been a sleeping giant in Division I all spring. Graduation losses pushed the Skippers’ high-powered motor into first gear. Now the pedal is hammered to the floor and North Kingstown is heading for the semifinals for the seventh consecutive season.
The fourth-ranked Skippers handed No. 5 Barrington a 3-0 quarterfinal defeat in just over an hour on Friday, May 29 in North Kingstown. The 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 victory saw North Kingstown trail 15-14 in the first frame and then never again as it went into cruise control.
North Kingstown now meets No. 1 La Salle on Wednesday, June 3 at Rhode Island College’s Murray Center. Start time is set for 5:30 p.m. No. 2 Hendricken and No. 6 East Greenwich play in the night cap of the Final Four doubleheader.
“I think it’s the little things — the process of not thinking about the previous play and just moving on,” NK’s Jayden Yang, who handed out 35 assists and had four aces, said. “I think our chemistry as a team outside of volleyball really helps us peak around this time too.”
North Kingstown lost its only regular-season meeting to Barrington, 3-1, in early May. It was an uncharacteristic performance in a string of early woes as North Kingstown was forming its rotation. Barrington played well in that match, and it might’ve been the wake-up call NK needed.
The Skippers rattled off five straight wins, including a sweep of La Salle on the final day of the regular season.
“It was more of a journey than a struggle,” Sean Peters said. “We all kind of went through it together — the growing pains but we’re definitely pushing through. We are 100 times better as a team than we were in that first game against East Greenwich. We got swept [in that game] and now here we are, first game in the playoffs and we’re sweeping other teams.”
The defense against Barrington in the quarterfinal showcase — 41 total digs, three solo blocks and handful of assisted blocks — made life at the net impossible for the Eagles. It’s the type of play that rallies a program and succeeds in the playoffs.
Peters, Owen Schneider and Mark Sardelli also combined for 29 kills in the sweep.
“I think we’re all in the mindset that we’re not giving up,” Sardelli said. “We’re diving every play if we need to and just really giving it our all. We’re all really close friends and we’ve grown a lot together.”
And then the biggest reason fueling NK — the Skippers are out to lessen the pain of two consecutive five-set losses in the championship. La Salle captured the 2024 crown with a 17-15 edge in the final frame. And Cranston East last year, during NK’s perfect season, snagged a 16-14 victory in the fifth.
“The last two years were tough losses,” Yang said. “But we have to understand that it wasn’t our time to win that day and hopefully we can improve. We learned from our mistakes.”
The alums from those teams surely let this cast know anything can happen at the Murray Center.
“The undefeated greats, those seniors come into practice still all the time,” Sardelli said. “That entire team and we’ve been practicing with them and against them. It just feels like we’re kind of taking on the torch from them and they’re really proud of us.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: NK boys volleyball advances to seventh straight semifinal appearance
Continue reading...
There’s the legacy, and the standard, of playing during the final week of the season. North Kingstown knows it has that experience on its side every June and now the Skippers are playing their best volleyball of the season.
North Kingstown had been a sleeping giant in Division I all spring. Graduation losses pushed the Skippers’ high-powered motor into first gear. Now the pedal is hammered to the floor and North Kingstown is heading for the semifinals for the seventh consecutive season.
The fourth-ranked Skippers handed No. 5 Barrington a 3-0 quarterfinal defeat in just over an hour on Friday, May 29 in North Kingstown. The 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 victory saw North Kingstown trail 15-14 in the first frame and then never again as it went into cruise control.
North Kingstown now meets No. 1 La Salle on Wednesday, June 3 at Rhode Island College’s Murray Center. Start time is set for 5:30 p.m. No. 2 Hendricken and No. 6 East Greenwich play in the night cap of the Final Four doubleheader.
“I think it’s the little things — the process of not thinking about the previous play and just moving on,” NK’s Jayden Yang, who handed out 35 assists and had four aces, said. “I think our chemistry as a team outside of volleyball really helps us peak around this time too.”
North Kingstown lost its only regular-season meeting to Barrington, 3-1, in early May. It was an uncharacteristic performance in a string of early woes as North Kingstown was forming its rotation. Barrington played well in that match, and it might’ve been the wake-up call NK needed.
The Skippers rattled off five straight wins, including a sweep of La Salle on the final day of the regular season.
“It was more of a journey than a struggle,” Sean Peters said. “We all kind of went through it together — the growing pains but we’re definitely pushing through. We are 100 times better as a team than we were in that first game against East Greenwich. We got swept [in that game] and now here we are, first game in the playoffs and we’re sweeping other teams.”
The defense against Barrington in the quarterfinal showcase — 41 total digs, three solo blocks and handful of assisted blocks — made life at the net impossible for the Eagles. It’s the type of play that rallies a program and succeeds in the playoffs.
Peters, Owen Schneider and Mark Sardelli also combined for 29 kills in the sweep.
“I think we’re all in the mindset that we’re not giving up,” Sardelli said. “We’re diving every play if we need to and just really giving it our all. We’re all really close friends and we’ve grown a lot together.”
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And then the biggest reason fueling NK — the Skippers are out to lessen the pain of two consecutive five-set losses in the championship. La Salle captured the 2024 crown with a 17-15 edge in the final frame. And Cranston East last year, during NK’s perfect season, snagged a 16-14 victory in the fifth.
“The last two years were tough losses,” Yang said. “But we have to understand that it wasn’t our time to win that day and hopefully we can improve. We learned from our mistakes.”
The alums from those teams surely let this cast know anything can happen at the Murray Center.
“The undefeated greats, those seniors come into practice still all the time,” Sardelli said. “That entire team and we’ve been practicing with them and against them. It just feels like we’re kind of taking on the torch from them and they’re really proud of us.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: NK boys volleyball advances to seventh straight semifinal appearance
Continue reading...
