Since being officially recognized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association as a varsity sport two years ago, the Berkshire Badgers boys’ volleyball team has been a steady force. The Badgers return their entire starting line-up this season and are ready to get over the hump for the upcoming season.
“You don’t get into a sport because you want to finish second to anybody,” Coach Tim Percic told The Weekly Villager on March 11. “You get there because you want to be at the top of the heap so to speak and our team is no different. It is our third year as an OHSAA-recognized sport but fifth total as a sport at Berkshire. In the first two years it was more fumbling around in the dark and now we have a conference and have teams we can call rivals and all of the pieces that make it a real sport and now the athletes are also developing every year in leaps and bounds.”
In the last two years, the Badgers’ season has ended with a loss to Geauga County rival Chardon in the playoffs. According to Percic, with several three-year starters returning, the team is incentivized to not let history repeat itself a third time.
In addition to returning to face the same familiar teams, Berkshire’s pool of competition continues to grow as more boys’ volleyball teams are playing in Northeast Ohio, including Geauga County foe Kenston.
Berkshire welcomed the Bombers into the fray when they swept them 25-21, 25-6, 25-16 in the season opener last Friday at Bainbridge Township.
The Badgers are not just hoping to make a deeper postseason push, but also have their sights set on finishing at the top of the Northeast Ohio Volleyball Association.
Last year Berkshire’s offense significantly changed because of the graduation of star outside hitter Apollo Percic, which forced the Badgers to find new scoring options. After a year of additional experience, the fifth-year coach said his team is ready to hit the ground running.
“We are not starting from square one from our team this year, a lot of them came back and remembered where we left off so to speak, so I am cautiously optimistic that is enough to give us a head start on some teams,” he added. “A lot of them have club players who have been playing for the last four months before our seasons starts so they might be revving a little bit hotter.”
Berkshire’s outside attack will once again be led by seniors Jake Starr, who led the team with 78 kills, and Mario Romagni who was second with 57.
Senior setter Ryan Kessinger will anchor the team’s offense after posting 209 assists last season.
“Our setting is very good because these players are now in their third season together with the same setter basically and I am expecting that their timing and their precision is going to be awesome,” Percic noted “Then if the setters and hitters are on the same page, the offense can do a lot of cool stuff.”
Sophomore middle blocker Maddox Fuentes will stabilize the front line, building off of an impressive freshman campaign. Percic said that the team hopes to run some more offense through him.
Senior blocker Tony Masters will support Fuentes in the middle and senior right side hitter Levi Rohl and senior libero Trent Hornak complete the returning core of Badgers’ players.
With so much depth returning, Percic said that Badgers still have plenty of contributors on their bench who are ready to step in on a moments’ notice, including sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Danny Starr, sophomore setter Law Holland, sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist Carson Jones and sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Scott Wendl.
“If we were starting a new team and did not have those core eight players, these guys would be starters, but they have the blessing and the curse of having a good team ahead of them and are learning quickly,” Percic said. “I can’t wait to see opportunities where we can work these guys into the lineup and see how it pans out in an actual contest.”
Percic noted that one of Berkshire’s biggest keys to success will be not sitting on its haunches but throwing the first strike in every match because with an experienced offense, things should be running like clockwork.
“We are hoping to be just very aggressive on offense,” he added. “Rather than just wait and see what happens, we want to be dictating the flow of the game so I am excited to see how this all pans out because we have been practicing against ourselves.
After a home match against Mayfield, the Badgers will host Mentor for another home dual in Burton on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
