When Brady Kundel isn't playing piano or acting, he's setting Barnstable boys' volleyball up for success

Boston Globe

05-04-2025

'When I came in here, the team was extremely separated,' said Kundel, now a junior captain. '[Now], everyone's a part of the team, everybody's a full group, a whole family, and that's what I kind of love.'
In the offseason, the 6-foot-3-inch outside hitter made time for team bonding opportunities between football practices and traveling to Taiwan with the Chinese Honor Society by hosting dinners and playing volleyball in the backyard.
It turned the program around.
The Red Hawks flipped a 5-15 record his sophomore season into a 15-5 mark last spring, securing their first postseason berth under the statewide tournament format.
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Brady Kundel with a kill as Barnstable tries to force a fifth set
— AJ (@aj_traub)
They started the season 0-2, but Kundel's leadership motivated the team to earn a hard-fought win on Friday at Millis in five sets.
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'Last game, I was not happy, I was not hyped up,' said freshman middle hitter
Leayon Brooks
. 'But then during practices, he was hyping me up. He hyped the whole team up today and we won, we got the W.'
'His leadership on and off the court signifies the type of person he is,' added coach
Marylou Robles
. 'To have a good balance with schoolwork is also important. He sets the tone to his teammates.'
Barnstable junior captain Brady Kundel celebrates winning a point against Greater New Bedford.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
As Kundel works toward his goal of making Barnstable a title contender, the improvement — not just in skill, but in numbers — has been significant.
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He discovered volleyball in middle school while playing in the backyard with his older brother,
Aiden
. He not only had to learn the sport but learn how to lead.
'He was pretty quiet in the eighth grade, and then slowly throughout freshman year, he started getting more of that leadership,' said
Joao Pedro Andrade
, Kundel's fellow co-captain. 'By sophomore year, he was already a great captain, taking [his] leadership on and off the court.'
Passionate about volleyball, Kundel shifted his focus from his first love, football. He still enjoys playing tight end/defensive end, but chose to concentrate on volleyball and plans on pursuing it in college.
'It's just so much fun, fast-paced. I feel like it's so action-packed,' Kundel said. 'The teamwork aspect of it is one of my favorites.'
Brady Kundel is not only a presence at the net, but on stage and in front of the piano keys.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Volleyball has not been his only chance to lead. Kundel, who has been learning piano for seven years, recently added voice lessons to his repertoire after joining the drama club to prepare for his role as Prince Eric in 'The Little Mermaid.'
Even with his busy schedule, Kundel learned to optimize his time without affecting his commitment to the team.
'Even though he has a lot of stuff, a lot of responsibilities going on. I think he's always been a pretty good part of the team,' Andrade said. 'Talking to us on and off the court, always giving us information, motivating us, and he's always been a pretty solid player since the start.'
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:
Kundel has even bigger plans, hoping to join the Math Honors, Tri-M Music Honors, and the National Honor Society at Barnstable. A headliner in multiple ways, Kundel finds a connection between his different roles.
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'When players experience strong emotions, it influences their game a lot,' he said. 'Being able to control your emotions, even if you're feeling down — being able to hype yourself up, hype your teammates up — is really strong, and that's a great thing in the sports world.
'Being able to show your emotions, like sadness, happiness, laughter, like every emotion and drama, has also been a big thing.'
Brady Kundel helped Barnstable improve from 5 wins in 2023 to 14 in 2024, earning their first postseason bid since the inception of the statewide tournament.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Set points
• Having graduated eight seniors and introduced an all-new coaching staff, Andover entered this season with a mixed bag of challenges. Led by coaches
Brent Ashley
,
Mae Driscoll
, and
Dan Young
, the Golden Warriors earned a 3-1 win in their season opener against Dracut.
'There is no doubt that it has been a transition,' said Ashley. 'There is such a history and a culture within the Andover program that I have spent the majority of my time asking questions, learning about my student-athletes, and learning about the history and expectations of the program.'
The three coaches combined for a 41-20 record while coaching the girls' programs at Lexington (Driscoll), Lynnfield (Ashley), and Andover (Young) last fall.
Though the coaches come from three different leagues and have different styles, it has been a learning opportunity that Young believes will benefit their girls' teams in the fall.
'There's a disparity between how I coach vs. how you coach,' Young said. 'Everyone goes into it with an open mind, which Brent has encouraged and given everyone a voice. Sometimes you learn what you do wrong, too.'
Related
:
• An early theme of the season is that a lot of teams graduated starting setters and are developing offenses without them. Natick junior
Luke Dratch
looks comfortable taking the place of All-Scholastic
Harrison Landry
, but the Redhawks have a ways to go, already with two Bay State losses.
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Needham is starting off with a pair of setters in
Luke Vivaldi
and
Nate Ross
, and it worked magnificently when six different hitters recorded five or more kills in a win over Natick.
Wayland started off sharing setter duties between senior libero
Liam Frenzel
and sophomore
Zach O'Donnell
, but handed the keys to the offense to the tall underclassman and he has delivered more than 40 assists in back-to-back matches.
Matches to watch
Tuesday, No. 3 Newton North at No. 2 Needham, 4 p.m.
— A
Thursday, No.
3 Newton North at No.
4 Natick, 4:30 p.m.
— This will be Natick's third day in a row with a match, and the last time they met, the Redhawks squandered multiple match points.
Thursday, No. 2 Needham at No. 1 Brookline, 5:15 p.m.
— The Warriors aced their first big test with new coach Lexi De La Cruz, sweeping Natick. This will be another top challenge against a Rockets team that can match Brookline's depth.
Thursday, No. 8 St. John's Prep at No. 9 BC High, 5 p.m.
— The top three in the Catholic Conference are neck-and-neck, and SJP will be looking to rebound after a loss to St. John's (Shrewsbury).
Friday, No. 11 Chelmsford at No. 13 Acton-Boxborough, 5:15 p.m.
— Merrimack Valley teams get few nonconference matches, and this is one between two teams on the rise.
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AJ Traub can be reached at