Death, Taxes, and newington vOlleyball championships

Seasons change, people change, and perspectives change.

Change is the only constant in life, but the dominance of the boys’ volleyball program at Newington High School is putting that theory to the test.

Last Thursday, the Indians defeated Joel Barlow in five sets (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13) to capture yet another Class M championship. It was their fifth title since 2012 and the fourth in the last five seasons.
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Including the postseason Newington won 23 of the 26 matches, which featured a three set victory (25-20, 25-16, 25-19) over South Windsor at Glastonbury High School to reach their sixth title game since 2011.

“South Windsor is a great team. They’re very well coached. They were champions two years ago and played us in the finals last year, so year after year they are right there,” Newington head coach Curt Burns said after the semifinal triumph, “It’s never easy with them. You saw the way they battled back in that third set. We had to really come back off the deck just to get that third set, so a lot of credit to them but credit to our guys as well.”

Burns and his boys easily took the first two sets before falling down 12-6 in the third frame.

“We have the drive to keep going. No set is over, it could be 24-5 and we’re still going to play our hearts out,” said junior Leonel Caceres, who had a team-high 12 kills in the win over South Windsor.

Fellow junior Teddy Fravel was a monster in the third set, scoring four straight points with three kills and a block.

“I knew personally that no one on that team could go up with me, there were no good matchups. Dan [Cloutier] did a great job feeding me and the rest of the team did a great job making that comeback and making that run,” stated Fravel, who finished with eight kills and four blocks.

Cloutier is one of four seniors on the team, become a full-time setter earlier this season.

“He’s a very quiet, calm individual but he’s very skilled and very tough. I can say things to him that he needs to correct and he takes whatever I say and he applies it,” Burns said of his Cloutier, “He’s a great athlete to coach, for someone that has only been playing the sport since his junior year he’s picked it up really well. He was a role player last year, as a serving sub, and now he’s a starting setter who never comes out.”

The senior setter finished with 29 assists and credited his quick development to the guidance of Burns and the coaching staff.

“He’s definitely been instrumental. He puts his trust in me and that gives me so much confidence on the floor,” said Cloutier, who has followed in a long line of successful setters at Newington, “It was tough at first, but I’ve got great players around me and I’ve been in tough games like the state championship last year and I’m able to stay calm.”

Like Cloutier, Fravel joined the team two seasons ago and came in with the right mindset and abilities from his time of the basketball court. Now his confidence is higher than ever.

“It’s been excellent, it’s much improved since last year,” said Fravel, who enjoys the team aspect, “I’m more in it for the brotherhood because I love all the guys on this team.”

“Good athletes learn sports. [Teddy] has the size and athletic ability that you look for in a volleyball player. Height, jumping ability, quickness, speed, he’s got it all,” stated Burns, “Volleyball is a technical sport so you have to learn the techniques and the skills but if you have the athletic ability as a base you can learn the technical stuff later and he’s a great example of that. Mason [Romano] as well, he’s relatively new to the game and he came in during that third set to help close it out.”

The semifinals win was the second in a matter of weeks over South Windsor, also defeating the Bobcats in five sets in the CCC tournament on May 22. The Bobcats have become a major rival, winning the state title in 2016 and taking the Indians to the limit in the 2017 championship match.

“We know who the usually suspects are. It doesn’t change too much,” Burns said, referring South Windsor and the rest of the elite competition in Class M.

“It does help us out because we know who they have. I play with some of these guys on my club team and I know how they hit and how they play and it’s good to have that in the back of your head, but even if we didn’t play them we would have come out with the same mentality,” Caceres said when asked about the rematch with South Windsor, “It doesn’t matter who the other guys have, we’re going to try our best.”

During the latest title run, Caceres was busy as a captain on the court and also helping groom the next generation of players.

“In practice they are getting the reps that they need to get. We have a freshman Jacob [Baclawski], he played a little bit today and he is going to be a phenomenal player. He comes in to practice every day working hard, harder than anybody. Jasper [Cayunda] is a sophomore and he’s all over the place with his quickness. It’s up to the younger guys to come into practice with their mind right and put in the reps they need to get better.”

Following the win over South Windsor there was only one more obstacle that stood between this current group and immortality. The team knew what was on the line and the experience from a season ago fueled their confidence.

“A lot of the guys were on the team last year and we have the confidence because we’ve been there and we want to get there again. We know when we’re playing our best volleyball there’s really no one who can beat us. We just kept reinforcing that, just play our volleyball and good things will happen,” stated Cloutier, "We know if we’re not confident than we’re not going to win, it’s as simple as that. You’ve got to think you’re the best and know you’re the best and you’ll play the best.”

“We have definitely gained confidence but we knew since the beginning of the season the end goal was to win it all,” added Fravel.

The journey was completed at Shelton High School as they put the finishing touches on another championship campaign with the win over the Redding-based Falcons.

The teams traded the first four sets before Newington took the fifth and final set, behind junior Louis Egbuna who had a championship night to remember, posting 23 kills and serving up seven aces.

Caceres added 21 kills, Fravel rejected seven shots, and Cloutier dished out 54 assists.

It was the final time that this current championship roster would play together. Next year Cloutier, Darien Rodriguez, Evan Metzger, and Al Chan will have graduated.

Luckily for Burns, he’ll have six of his seven starters returning as the team goes for the three-peat.

“I’ve got great athletes to work with so I’m very happy about that,” added the veteran coach.
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I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same for Newington boys’ volleyball.