Berkshire Badgers boys’ volleyball Coach Tim Percic has acknowledged that his team may not strike fear into the hearts of their opponents with their size but their confidence in themselves has made them a tough out in every match. The Badgers took Western Reserve Academy to five sets before ultimately falling 25-14, 15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 13-15 last Saturday afternoon in Hudson.
“We jumped up early and then got the first set and WRA mopped the floor with us in the second match and the third match was a little bit tighter but at the end we kind of fell flat,” noted the fifth-year coach, “The expectation and the psychological weight is high and to take the fourth set shows that our guys were not going to just accept defeat without a fight.”
Trailing 2-1, Berkshire (6-4, 2-0) faced a four-point deficit in the middle of the fourth set. According to Percic, it was times like these last year where his squad failed to meet the challenge in front of them. With a year of experience under its belt, he said that the Badgers now do not shy away from any moment.
As hard as the Pioneers were hitting the ball, Percic said that Berkshire defenders flocked to the ball any time Western Reserve Academy attempted a kill. He highlighted senior libero Trent Hornak’s persistence at digging out essentially every ball.
“I have to hand it to Trent,” he said of Hornak, who ultimately tallied 42 digs. “He was hit with that ball four or five times and somehow, he made it go into the same vicinity as our setter who was able to put sets up. The challenge for a team like ours, we are not going to outhit anybody because we don’t have the players with that kind of power, you have to absorb some punches.”
While the Badgers may not hit the ball as hard as a lot of their opponents, Percic said that their biggest offensive strength has been identifying the smartest shot to take, not the loudest shot.
The Badgers’ resiliency resulted in mounting an epic comeback and taking the fourth set 25-23, forcing a decisive fifth set.
After taking a slim two-point lead at the beginning of the fifth set, Percic said that the Badgers committed several unforced mental errors, which gave Western Reserve the advantage and ultimately prevailing in the fifth set, winning 15-13.
“We would stop them and then miss a serve and then they would hit a point and it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth and towards the end, they definitely had the upper hand by the score, but the intensity of the game was just electric,” Percic added.
While Berkshire’s bid for an upset came up short, Percic said that his team once again proved how mentally tough they were having only been swept twice this season.
Percic said that he envisioned having the nucleus of last year’s core returning would be a big advantage for his team, but he added that the Badgers have taken it a step further by refusing to let any of their opponents have it easy.
“These are multi-sport athletes that set records with the bowling team, they set records with the soccer team and now here they are going to do the same with the volleyball team and now they are out there figuring out the puzzle that is the game of volleyball,” he said. “They are greater than the sum of their parts which I guess is the bottom line there which is really cool to watch.”
The Badgers showed their competitive nature at the start of the match when they dominated the first set 25-14. Percic noted that Berkshire’s fast start to the match caught Western Reserve by surprise.
The Pioneers recovered to win the second and third sets by a 25-15 and 25-21 margins, respectively. According to Percic, Berkshire’s momentum stalled as their service game squandered many opportunities, including some of their most accurate servers in senior setter Ryan Kessinger, senior outside hitter Jake Starr and Hornak.
“The problem was that the guys that were missing were our most threatening servers, Ryan Kessinger, Jake Starr and Trent Hornak,” he added. “When they serve, they mean business, but if they miss, we have to wait five rotations before are back in the service corner so that kind of cripples us a little bit on our offense.”
After a home match against Geauga County rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Thursday night, the Badgers will hit the road and face Independence on April 15 at 6 p.m.
