Rams Boys Volleyball Wins First State Title

Cheshire spotted Staples-Westport the first game, then came back to win three straight tightly contested games for a 3-1 victory in the CIAC Class L boys volleyball championship match at Fairfield Warde High School Friday night.

The No. 1 seed Rams, who won their first state title and finished perfect with a 22-0 record, won by game scores of 12-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22.

At first, though, it looked as if it would be a tough night for the Rams. Staples dominated the first game 25-12 as Cheshire had trouble setting up its offense, made multiple passing errors and looked out of sync.

Even reliable 6-foot-10 junior Nate Howard appeared to be adjusting his game. Despite having a team-high four kills in the first game he was blocked twice at the net by Dan Fishman.

"Absolutely jitters. The guys we had back there passing really didn't get a lot of varsity time last year and it was a big stage," Cheshire head coach Sue Bavone said. "I thought that would happen on Tuesday (in the semifinal against Ridgefield). This one was a little different. The atmosphere was much different. Many more fans, much louder, hot as heck in here.

"They were just nervous, our passing was a little shaky and that was why they were able to roll over us in that first game. Once they got into the atmosphere and settled down on the passing, that was the key."

Cheshire settled down but Staples wasn't going anywhere. The Rams held early leads of as many as four points in Game 2 before the No. 3 seed Wreckers (18-5) got to 12-11.

Cheshire opened up some room at 18-14 but Staples rallied to tie at 19 and then 20. From there the Rams won five of the last eight points. with Howard (19 kills, three blocks) hitting a kill at 21-20, Ryan Cuppernull (12 kills, six digs) supplying one at 24-22 and Joe Bahgat closing it out for the winner at 25-23.

"We definitely came out flat in the first game," Bahgat said. "We just had to keep our composure and regroup. We all met together and said 'This is not the way we usually play.' We know Staples is a great team. We overcame the factor that it's (eight-time state champion) Staples. We came together and said, 'We're the Rams. We're going to do this.'"

Game 3 was another nip-and-tuck affair with Staples taking early leads of one and two points until the Rams tied at 14. The score was knotted five more times until Howard again delivered a kill for a 21-20 advantage. The teams tied at 22, 23 and 24 before Bahgat once more finished it with a kill for a 26-24 win.

"We had a hard time scoring on our serves because they're such a good passing team," Bavone said. "They run such great offense. We couldn't get any separation. Each team that was receiving sided out."

Game 4 was more of the same with Staples again taking early leads at 12-9, 13-10 and 15-12 behind the hitting of Jonah Aelyon (17 kills), Drew Appleman (12 kills) and Andreas Bub (13 kills).

Cuppernull came up with a big kill from the outside to cut it to 16-14 and later Howard took it to 20-19 with a kill. After a Cheshire mishit made it 21-19, Howard delivered a key block to get it to 21-20. A.J. Green of Staples had a kill for a 22-20 edge but the Wreckers never scored again.

Cuppernull had a kill to get it to 22-21 and another to tie it at 22. From there Howard served out the match, getting a block from K.C. Philcox (eight blocks, eight digs) to give Cheshire the lead 23-22, delivering a serve that died on the Staples side and having Cuppernull put the finishing touch on it with a kill from the outside and a 25-22 win.

"I was really happy when Ryan got to the front row because Ryan had a lot of energy still left when a lot of the guys were kind of tired," Bavone said. "When Ryan went to the outside I said to Ray (Brumleve, 50 assists), just get him the ball. He was still fresh, still jumping."

"At the end of the games, they really knew how to close it out," first-year Staples head coach Jon Shepro said. "In the fourth game, we thought we'd be OK when Howard went to the back row, but Cuppernull stepped right up and started pounding the ball at us.

"It's not all about Howard, he's a big, tall kid, but Cuppernull and Bahgat had a bunch kills in some big spots. We couldn't stop (Cuppernull). We knew it was going out to him. We put two blocks on him and we'd get a hand on the ball, but he's a smart player. He'd hit it around the blocks, over the blocks. He did a real nice job."

Using its depth and array of heavy hitters, Cheshire again found a way to win and stay unblemished. The Rams lost only six games all season, four came against Class M runner-up Newington over two matches, one to Ridgefield in the semis and one Friday to Staples.

"This team all year long has really pulled together," Bavone said. "They never, ever point a finger, they've never got down on each other. They're just a really good group of guys that work well together as a unit."

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