Staples Boys Volleyball Opens Season With Easy Win

In the first game of their 3-0 season-opening win over St. Joseph on Wednesday, the Staples boys' volleyball team could do no wrong and the Cadets could do nothing right.

Behind steady serving, flawless setting and power hitting, the Wreckers outscored St. Joe 25-1.

No typo there:  25-1.

The Wreckers, who won the next two games 25-11 and 25-9,  went on runs of six and 19 points in the first contest behind the serving of Danny Fishman (21 assists) and Evan Gaumert (15 service points). Ryan Winter served the final five points during the second run.

"When you get on a run, it's not too hard to keep the concentration," Fishman said. "That's what helps us get to 25. It helps a lot to be out there with a bunch of guys you know and trust with the volleyball.

"It's really a lot of team chemistry that we've had for a while since we've been playing together since we were about first in high school."

Mikey Fitzgerald scored two of his four kills in the first run. Steve Denowitz added two assists to his four kills, setting up Fitzgerald and Fishman on back-to-back points. 

After the Cadets got their only point on Fishman's service error, the Wreckers were back for their extraordinary 19-point run. Tom Prenderville (seven kills) administered the first game's coup de grace. 

"We were playing like we should have been playing on our side of the court, which is very, very impressive,"  Staples head coach Bruce Betts said. "It's very, very hard to do. I was very proud of them in that first game."

 A totally different Staples lineup started the second game, with Danny Hlawitschka (nine assists) starting at the service line for the Wreckers. Jake McCambley stepped up as a power hitter, and Jordan Goldstein showed finesse with a tidy push kill. 

 Drew Appleman came up with the Wreckers' first dig of the day as the Cadets nearly caught fire while trailing 14-6, but Jack Bonti led a nine-point run that doused any St. Joseph's flame, and AJ Green served the final point of the game.

The final game saw the Wreckers jump out to a 16-4 lead as Prenderville served a back-breaking run highlighted by Fitzgerald assisting Gaumert and Matt Brill on back-to-back points. 

Cadets' fans cheered as their front line scored with consecutive blocks, but Brill's winner won back the serve, and Staples reeled off eight of the final nine points, with Fitzgerald ending the game and match.

Just under 47 minutes after the match started, Staples was ready for the post-game handslaps and the bus ride home.

"It was good, a good way to start off the season," Betts said. "Everybody got in, everybody contributed. It was a great job. Everybody was pumped. That's what we're going to have to do throughout the season."

Fitzgerald, one of the Wrecker captains, put the program's 81-match win streak in perspective. 

"We'd rather win the championships, but the streak is basically a tradition so we just want to keep that streak going," he said. "We're basically just trying to play hard in practice and transfer that to the game. This game wasn't as hard as most of the games are going to be, so we'll basically use practice to pick up our game."

With matches against Kolbe Cathedral and Bassick on Thursday and Friday,  respectively, the Wreckers will need to stretch the weekend for practice time before their Monday matchup with ever-determined Trumbull.