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The Winchester High boys volleyball team has a 3-3 record, as of April 15. The Red & Black opened up the season at home against non-league North Andover on March 31, and were narrowly defeated by the Scarlet Knights, 3-2. They then won their next two matches versus visiting Woburn (3-0, April 2) and host Burlington (3-1, April 6).
But on April 8 and 9, Lexington and non-league Barnstable respectively shut them down, 3-0. But they rebounded nicely against non-league St. John’s Prep by the exact same score on April 15. All three of those matches were played back in their own gym.
Through it all, the Red & Black have been dealing with injuries, but there’s hope over the next couple of weeks that they will return to full health.
“We are (hoping) to get healthy soon,” said Coach John Fleming. “Junior Jefferson Yi has been hurt since the second or third day (of practice), but once back he will bring another dynamic hitter to our (lineup).”
Fleming also mentioned that senior captain Dawson English, who was one of his star players on the boys basketball team this past winter, missed the last few matches, and as a result the team missed his presence and leadership on the court.
“It will be a nice added bonus for the team, when he returns,” the coach added.
But the veteran coach has been pleased with the growth of senior Justin Reno, and what he has meant to the team in the early going.
“(Reno) has made some big plays, when we have needed them,” Fleming said.
Both Reno and English are brand new varsity starters, while junior Jonathan Cutler, who is totally new to the sport, has unlimited potential.
“(Cutler) is picking up (the nuances of the sport) quite nicely,” said Fleming.
Eric Chen is another player, who is doing a great job stepping in as a starting outside hitter, according to the coach. Fleming then added, “he’s only a freshman, but is already showing what he may be capable of doing in the future.”
Chen’s classmate Qole Simpson has also been thrown into the fire of varsity matches a number of times as a serving specialist early on, and has delivered in high pressure situations.
In general, Fleming assesses this year’s team with plenty of positive reinforcement.
“We have a nice mix of veteran players with lots of experience like (senior captain) Ethan Lubomirski and (senior) Elliott Swain. They are (coupled with) two freshmen (Chen and Simpson), who are already playing in big spots,” he said. “But as they continue to (work together), while learning their roles, I think we have a chance to improve really quick.”
Season update
Reno was the leader in kills with 13 against Barnstable. Senior captain Bryan Lin had seven. Lubomirski was credited with three aces. Cutler (4) and Swain (3) did their jobs finishing blocks against some big-time hitters.
“We had much improved blocking (against Barnstable) compared to the Lexington match,” Fleming said. “We played some of our best volleyball so far this year in this match. We lost the second and third sets by just two points. We are (finding out) how to win close games, and my hope is that we keep on learning more about ourselves.”
Following the Lexington encounter, Fleming thinks that the Minutemen might be the best team that they have faced to date.
“They were long and athletic across the board,” he said of the Minutemen. “It was a great early season test for us. We are down a few guys right now, but I’m hoping when we face them again (May 7) on the road, we will be a little bit more prepared to fight back. We know where we need to improve, and will focus on that moving forward.”
Swain (6 kills) and Chen (5) were the Red & Black standouts against the Minutemen.
Reno had a career high 23 kills to propel his teammates to victory over the Red Devils. Chen was next in line with 13. Swain came through with six. Lubomirski chipped in with four aces.
“Burlington fought hard, but we were able to make enough plays throughout the match to get the win,” Fleming said.
The win over Burlington followed the team’s first triumph of the year that took place at home against the Tanners.
“Coming into the season, I thought Woburn could give some teams a hard time, but our serves / receives disrupted them. Offensively, we were able to spread them out with different hitters making plays,” the coach said.
Reno (8), Lin (7) and Swain (6) led the way in kills against Woburn. Junior Haoran Jiang ended up with four kills and 10 assists. Senior Landon Turk collected 14 assists.
In the Opening Day close loss to North Andover, Reno powered the attack with 16 kills. English accounted for nine. Cutler was credited with six kills and five blocks, while Jiang was the leader in assists with 18. Turk was close behind with 16.
“It was a dramatic start to the season,” said Fleming. “We played well in spurts, but not consistently enough to come away with a win.”
After taking on visiting Wakefield on April 16, the Winchester boys will host the ALS One Tournament during school vacation week. On April 23, they will take on Boston’s O’Bryant High School at 11 a.m., followed by the St. John’s of Shrewsbury matchup against Nipmuk Regional at 12:30 p.m.
The consolation and championship matches will take place the next day at the same times.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
