BOLTON – It certainly was a good Friday for the Bay Path Regional boys volleyball team.
The visiting Minutemen traveled and notched their first victory of the season, defeating the host Wolves 3-0 by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-22 inside Nashoba Regional High School gym.
Bay Path is now 1-2 on the young season, while the Wolves fall to 0-5.
Despite the loss, Nashoba third-year head coach Janet Carey remained optimistic.
“Every match the team is playing better. They are improving. We played yesterday against Ayer-Shirley Regional and we won a set but the scores weren’t as close as these scores today,” said Carey from the Wolves’ sideline. “On paper, people will look at us and see 0-5 but those people don’t understand how close we are and how much improvement this team has shown through these first five contests.”
Neither team could create much separation on the scoreboard in the opening set. Tied 10-10 early on, the lead would change hands five times the remainder of the set as neither team could open a lead of more than three points.
With the score tied at 21-21, the Minutemen scored four of the final five points to lock up the win. Bay Path’s Jackson Young was strong in front of the net, registering multiple kills during the set.
In the second set, Bay Path jumped out to a 7-1 advantage before the Wolves battled back. Strong serving from Joey O’Riorden combined with a handful of kills from Jack Barry and Colin Pagington helped the hosts rally back to take an 11-10 lead.
Bay Path recovered and regained the lead with three straight points to take a 13-11 lead.
Nashoba battled back to tie the score at 13 but unfortunately for the hosts, it wouldn’t taste the lead the remainder of the set as Bay Path maintained the upper hand and secured a 25-22 win to grab command of the match.
“We are still playing around with the lineup and trying different combinations to see what works best,” said Carey, who returns 10 varsity players from last year’s squad. “We have 15 players on the team this year so having so many returning players from last year definitely helps as they have been great helping the coaching staff with develop the younger players. They are working so hard trying to get better, we just haven’t been able to get over the top yet.”
The third and final set was a carbon copy of the first two. Nashoba held a slim 14-11 lead following a kill from Jason Jangro. Determined to try and extend the match to a fourth set, the Wolves battled. However, the combination of Young, Jayme Kennedy and Jason Maldonado around the net proved to be too much for the Wolves to stop as Bay Path rallied to regain the lead and never relinquished it, sealing the match with a 25-22 triumph.
This was a back-and-forth contest between evenly matched teams.
Both teams return to action on Monday afternoon. The Wolves travel to Shrewsbury High, while the Minutemen host Main South.
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