BROOKLINE– You can be the best team, but typically it’s the deeper one that’s left standing in the end. The Brookline boys volleyball team proved to be both on Thursday.
With their spot in the state tournament secure, the Warriors opted to test some of their more inexperienced players against Newton North. Not only did they pass, but they did so with flying colors, taking down the defending state champions in three sets.
“That was a great opportunity for my starters to rest, and also a great opportunity for my second squad to show me who is the next guy,” Brookline coach Lexi De La Cruz said. “I gave them all opportunities to play today, and I’m taking notes to see who’s going to have that first opportunity in the playoffs.
“I got a good idea of who my subs are, and I am super happy that I also got to see my freshmen, who are the future of this program, play against a team like Newton North.”
Depth was not a luxury that Newton North enjoyed. The Tigers competed without four members of their starting lineup, leading to one of the regular season’s most highly anticipated matchups ending far sooner than anyone had anticipated or hoped.
The Warriors took the first set with ease, 25-17. The next two, Newton North made them work for.
Down 15-11 at one point in the second set, Brookline had to turn back to its starters and quickly closed the gap from there to take the frame, 25-23.
The third set followed a similar script. Unforced errors by the Warriors allowed the Tigers to hang around, and Newton North took a 20-16 lead midway through with a 5-1 run that forced Brookline to call a timeout.
Afterward, the Warriors looked like an entirely different team. They outscored Newton North 11-5 the rest of the way and showed much more resemblance to the one that has run through each and every opponent that has stood its way so far this season.
“We just needed to trust ourselves,” Brookline libero Sebi Levi said. “Everyone on the court has the potential to play such a good game, and it’s really about how much they believe in themselves. A lot of our players were sitting back and letting North control the game. I was just telling everyone to be aggressive, attack the ball, because once we started doing that, it was so easy for us.”
The win improved Brookline’s record to 14-1. With it, the Warriors all but officially clinched the Bay State Conference regular season crown.
A matchup on Saturday at Newton South is one of four they have left before the playoffs. Once the postseason begins, so does the real test.
“We had two goals starting the season, and one was winning the Bay State,” De La Cruz said. “That sends a good message to the rest of the teams, especially in Western Mass. We completed our first goal. Now, we just got to go win the state. For me, that would be a perfect season.”
