This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/27/2018 12:00 AMAll season long, the Hand boys’ volleyball team battled through ups and downs, as well as several grueling marathon matches, to rise up the ranks of the Southern Connecticut Conference. Last week, the Tigers used their trademark resiliency to make program history.
Hand notched 10 wins on the regular season, good enough to earn a berth to the four-team SCC Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Tigers started off on May 23 with a semifinal match against No. 2 Shelton, a team they had split a pair of five-setters against during the year. The rubber match also went the distance with Hand rallying from two sets down to win a 3-2 decision.
That victory catapulted Hand into its second SCC final appearance in three seasons and a showdown against top-seeded Cheshire, which had defeated Hand in five sets for the 2016 SCC crown. However, things went much differently this time around as the Tigers earned a 3-1 victory at Cheshire to win their first SCC championship on May 25. Hand took the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-22, before the Rams stayed alive by winning the third set 25-22. The Tigers squashed any hopes of a Cheshire comeback by capturing a 21-13 victory in the fourth set to take both the match and the conference crown.
“I don’t think there’s been a prouder moment in my life. I’ve been playing with this team for four years, and the seniors were here when we lost to them two years ago, so it was sort of a revenge match to prove who we are,” said senior tri-captain Mike Card. “We wanted to put ourselves on the radar and show that we are a team that can actually compete in the sport. [Head Coach Marc Figlar] has turned this program around the last five years, and he is one of the main contributors to why we were able to do this.”
Card, who made All-SCC Second Team, dished out 23 assists in the victory. Fellow senior tri-captain Erik Lazor, an All-SCC First Team selection, added 15 kills and a pair of blocks. Junior Matt McSweeney, who made the All-SCC Second Team, had grabbed 11 kills and seven blocks for Hand, which improved to 12-9 with the win. Junior Zach Cifarelli was named the SCC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player on behalf of the Tigers.
Card went on to describe the emotions he was experiencing as he reveled in Hand’s championship effort.
“When we won, it was incredible. I couldn’t contain the smile on my face, and tears were welling up in my eyes. We literally got to make history, and it’ll always be there,” Card said. “On the ride home, I turned to Erik and looked at him and told him, ‘We did it. This is what we wanted to do we and did it.’ Instead of getting into our own heads, we decided to go out there and we realized we had nothing to lose, but only things to prove. I couldn’t be happier with the support we’ve gotten from the school and everyone this year. It was team effort, and there’s no better feeling in the world.”
Hand took the early lead against Cheshire grabbing a 25-17 decision in the first set after winning nine of the last 10 points. The Tigers clawed their way to an 18-15 edge toward the end of the second and, after the two teams split the next 14 points, Hand came away with a 25-22 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Not wanting to get swept on their home floor, the Rams (12-8) earned a 25-22 victory in the third set to extend the contest.
The Tigers certainly didn’t want to let the match go to a decisive fifth set, and so they came out strong in the fourth by quickly taking a 5-1 lead. Hand increased that advantage to 12-6 and later 21-13 on its way to the 25-18 victory and a 3-1 final for the SCC title.
“I’m especially proud and happy for the guys, because this is the first one and the first banner we can put in the gym. The banner was everything we had been working towards,” Coach Figlar said. “We’ve had an up-and-down year, and it took time for things to fall into place. This was a young Cheshire team, but they beat us twice so far this year. We knew it would be a battle, but everyone did their job and made a difference. It was a total team effort.”
Figlar additionally complimented his squad for how they marched into Cheshire’s gym with a specific plan of attack and then followed through flawlessly on it.
“We executed our game-plan and tried to neutralize their offense,” he said. “Mike Card was consistent as our setter. Our middle hitters in Erik Lazor and Matt McSweeney were great. Our passing was also consistent. After Cheshire won the third game, there was no hanging of heads.”
Earlier in the week, Hand defeated Wolcott Tech 3-1 on May 21. The Tigers then posted a 3-0 sweep of Bulkeley on May 22 to finish the regular season with a record of 10-9. Then in the SCC Tournament semifinals, Hand earned a 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10) victory versus Cheshire to advance to the title bout.
Hand opens the Class M State Tournament as the No. 9 seed and will hit the road to face No. 8 Farmington (9-8) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30. The winner moves on to meet top-seeded Newington (18-2) in the quarterfinals on Friday, June 1 at 6 p.m.
“Hopefully, this is the start of something and we make a nice run in states,” Figlar said. “Some of the five-set matches have helped us. We’ve used them to our advantage. We lost the first two versus Shelton, but stayed with a positive attitude and came back. They are a resilient group and know that if we stay consistent, we will be victorious.”
Hand’s roster consists of senior tri-captains Erik Lazor, Mike Card, and Tucker Rathe; fellow seniors Ethan McMahon, Erik Mathews, Rei Regala, JD Fritzeen, and Joe Harris; juniors Zach Cifarelli, Matt Cifarelli, Finn Sheehan, Matt McSweeney, and Jeremy Long; and sophomores Dan Baker, Jonas Bizier, Jack Lanza, and Alex Crocker.