Marcelo matters. On court, and in crowd, Milford voices its unconditional support for detained student.

Boston Globe

3 days ago

They joined the sea of tees on the Milford players and in the bleachers. The crowd was there to support the host Scarlet Hawks, but also to show that everyone wants Marcelo Gomes da Silva back home after he was detained by
'He's my friend. I played with him,' Asiegbunam said of the 18-year-old Milford High junior. 'I got really close to him. He told me so many things. He taught me life lessons . . . He makes me smile . . . He brings warmth . . . I'm demanding for him to be free.'
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Added Freitas: 'Once I started [playing volleyball], Marcelo was there for me. We saw on Instagram that they were going to wear white shirts, so we had to support. Marcelo was friends and family with all of us.'
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Milford volleyball players draped their arms around each other's shoulders during the national anthem before the start of their Division 1 second-round playoff game against Taunton.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Milford athletic director Pete Boucher said that after a crowd of 1,000 packed the gym, about 200 went to the auditorium to watch a live stream. Though the crowd watched the 22nd-seeded Scarlet Hawks (13-10) play their last point of the season, it kept cheering hard every time the team made a play.
'The Milford community was amazing,' said coach Andrew Mainini. 'Obviously the volleyball community was there, but also the townspeople. That was huge. One thing that was really touching to us was that there were other volleyball teams we don't have relationships with there, like Marlborough. They wanted to show their support. From Medfield, from Nipmuc, alumni from Natick. The diversity of the people who showed up in age, culture was amazing.'
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The Scarlet Hawks appeared to run out of steam after dropping the second set, but star hitter Gus Da Silva, who is Brazilian like Gomes da Silva and several others on the Milford team, kept popping kills where he could.
'The whole thing was for Marcelo, and I'm really upset that I couldn't bring out the victory for him,' Da Silva said. 'I miss that kid more and more every day . . . I just want to give him a big hug now.
'That's my best friend. We grew up together. We've always been close. Nothing separates us.'
Milford fans wearing Free Marcelo t-shirts cheered on the Scarlet Hawks against Taunton.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Freitas dished 36 assists, finding classmate Travis Johnson (15 kills), junior Donny Providence (9 kills) and Asiegbunam (7 kills), as the No. 27 Tigers (18-4) became the lowest seed in statewide tournament history to reach the quarterfinals.
'I was nervous and getting emotional at the same time,' said Johnson, who is also friends with Gomes da Silva.
Taunton coach Toby Chaperon was all for it when his players wanted to sport the T-shirts, and he watched them perform on the emotional night.
'When it's coming from the players, it makes it a little bit more special and genuine,' he said. 'We know it's going to be a raucous environment and I think we did handle it well.'
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The match lasted two hours, a culmination of a whirlwind in the past few days, in which many at Milford lost sleep. The school had a walkout on Monday, among other protests.
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'It's a challenge because you really are focusing on the kid Marcelo,' Boucher said. 'We love that kid. That kid would talk to me every day. You have to try to encapsulate that . . . you want to do the kid justice, you want to do the incoming team justice, you want to do the crowd justice.
'You want to make sure we're focusing on volleyball, but we're still thinking about him.'
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Milford freshman Lucas Ribeiro does not know Gomes da Silva, but after seeing the Instagram post, made his FREE MARCELO tee and was part of a one-of-a-kind volleyball crowd.
'For me, it was important [to come] because, you know, my parents are [Brazilian] immigrants, and as a son of an immigrant, I feel it's kind of mandatory for me to come here and support my community.
'I didn't know him personally, but he was just a kid.'
Milford's Diego Inacio-Santos (center) celebrates a point with his teammates during their Division 1 second-round playoff game against Taunton.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
A student with a Free Marcelo sticker on her cheek watches Milford's Division 1 second-round playoff game against Taunton.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Milford's Paullo Mota (12) spikes the ball against Taunton.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
A Milford High School student who had painted Marcelo Gomes da Silva's number on his cheek stood for the national anthem.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Milford players Paullo Mota (left) and Colin Greco wore T-shirts in support of their missing teammate Marcelo Gomes da Silva.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
AJ Traub can be reached at