Playing ‘Agawam volleyball' got it done in the Division 2 boys' championship
Fourth set goes to
— AJ (@aj_traub)
'I shed a couple tears when it happened,' said senior Joe Culhane, who racked up 15 kills and 16 digs. 'It's sad to not be playing with these guys ever again, but it couldn't have ended in a better way.'
Culhane and setter David Dzhenzherukha (43 assists, 8 digs, 4 kills) connected eight times in the fourth set to clinch it, after winning together two years ago. Agawam coach Kevin Pender credited the two and the team's third senior captain, Kyle Douglas, with keeping the team focused to avoid last year's fate.
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'My team's fuel to play as hard as we can and win the states, that's what motivated us to keep pushing and win,' Dzhenzherukha said. 'We just played Agawam volleyball. We just did our thing.'
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Junior Tim Karcha led with 16 kills, senior Dennis Nesen added 11, and junior Chase Gerani added 7 kills and 3 blocks. Senior John Cote rose for a pair of enormous blocks to start the runaway third set.
Agawam takes the third set 25-13. Wayland made a little run at the end, but the lead was too great and Agawam goes up 2-1
— AJ (@aj_traub)
'I think a big story of set three was our defense,' Pender said. 'We made a lot of errors in the second set . . . Third set though, that was Agawam volleyball. We were serving well, getting the ball off the net, and they couldn't hit their other hitters besides Finn [Bell].'
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Bell, the Globe's Division 2 Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2024, smacked 21 kills and three aces. When he and five other starters return next season for Wayland, Agawam will have climbed to Division 1.
'I'm very excited about our team next year,' Wayland coach Phil George said of his 16-9 club. 'We've got a ton of returning talent and a ton of youth.'
AJ Traub can be reached at
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