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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Front and center, Brookline boys' volleyball blocks Newton North to clinch trip to Division 1 final
Related : With six blocks and three kills, Gallucci was part of a Brookline brigade in the middle with junior Liam Raybould (nine kills) that helped handle senior Simon Vardeh, who cranked out 18 kills for the No. 4 Tigers (18-6). Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Brookline will take on No. 3 Needham in Friday's state final at Xaverian (6:30 p.m.). Advertisement First-year coach Lexi De La Cruz coaches Vardeh at SMASH Volleyball Club and knew what to expect, calling upon his middles for more after the first set. 'My team fights,' he said. 'I always told them we're Brookline Warriors. Until the other team doesn't get to 25 points, we always have a chance. That's been our motto the whole season, and I think they live up to it.' Senior Kris Vaivars (24 kills) increased the intensity, with junior Amir Tomer (10 kills, 1 block) and Conor Christopher (6 kills, 1 block) also finishing points at the net. Advertisement De La Cruz called upon Vaivars to close out the match, and he delivered five of his kills in Brookline's final eight points. 'I think that everyone in the front row did a great job, whether we were blocking them straight down, getting touches, setting up a good block, forcing them to tip,' Vaivars said. 'That made a huge difference. Once we were able to get that stop or get that dig, we were able to score a lot of easy transition points and I think that's the difference maker.' Junior Alec Smagula dished 47 assists, but also extended the first set with a block and showed his abilities with three kills in the first two sets. When the Tigers had to put up a block opposite him, he pushed the ball to the pins where lanes were open. 'I could have dumped more, but my team is so strong,' he said. 'I have so many weapons that I want to give the balls to my guys . . . but they still know I'm a threat. When I show them that early, get them jumping, it's one of my favorite things.' North played a terrific season despite graduating some of the state's best players and enduring injuries leading up to the playoffs. 'It was a really good season. A lot of kids got better,' said North coach Nile Fox. 'We went through a few things, but we were able to come back and make it to the Final Four. We didn't get to where we wanted to be, but it was a good season.' Needham 3, Natick 1 — Seeded third in the bracket, the Rockets (22-5) played with the poise and fury of a confident group in its semifinal win against Bay State Conference rival Natick (19-4), the No. 2 seed. Advertisement Junior Andrew Kurdziel delivered 10 kills, 3 aces, 3 digs, 2 blocks and classmate Matty Cloonan had 14 kills, 5 digs, and 1 ace as the Rockets dominated from the first serve, taking the first two sets, 25-14 and 25-14, on their way to victory at Concord-Carlisle, the program's fifth straight trip to the state final. 'It just lit a fire in us,' Cloonan said. 'People didn't think we were going to win, and that just fueled us.' Down 2-0, and with the season on the line, Natick (19-4) held its own against the Rockets (22-5) to win the third set 25-19. Branch Barnes and Cody Gibendi combined for 20 kills, 1 ace, and two blocks. But it wasn't long until the Rockets added fuel to their engine, pulling ahead ahead midway through the fourth set and win 25-14 once again. 'No one wants to go to a fifth set,' Needham coach Dave Powell said. 'There was a sense of urgency from our guys and [we played] some crisp volleyball.' For Natick, the loss was devastating. Acting coach Brendan Carroll described the team's wins over No. 1 Brookline and No. 4 Needham during the regular season as 'null and void.' 'But, to get back to this point after last year, [losing] against Newton North, it was a big, big difference,' he said. 'So, I'm proud of the boys for how they fought all season.' Kurdziel earned the final kill that punched the Rockets' ticket to the final. Advertisement 'It feels amazing,' he said. 'Natick's a great team, but we were prepared for them. We used all of our resources, so we came in here and did what we knew we could do.' Division 2 State Wayland 3, Westfield 1 — With the Warriors ahead, 2-0, senior Liam Frenzel had a flashback to last year's final, when Westfield pulled off a reverse sweep to stun Wayland. In the rematch, Westfield again charged back to claim the third set, but third-seeded Wayland (16-8) slammed the door in the fourth set en route to a 25-23, 25-19, 18-25, 25-18 triumph at Worcester North. Wayland will play top-seeded Agawam in the state final Thursday at Shrewsbury High (6:30 p.m.). Junior standout Finn Bell powered the Warriors with 27 kills and five digs, and seniors Cooper Szeremeta (8 kills, 3 digs) and Liam Frenzel (22 digs, 1 ace) also provided key supporting efforts. 'We came into it knowing [Westfield] had the heart and the firepower from last year,' Frenzel said. 'Knowing we won the first two sets last year too, but then they came back, we knew that we had to just put the pedal out to the floor.' A key sequence came in the opening set, after Westfield racked up straight points to take a 23-19 lead before Wayland won six straight points on the serve of sophomore Mason Lee to close out the frame. Despite stumbling in the third set, Wayland returned with energy in the fourth and received key blocks from both freshman Alex Pearlman and junior Max Walsh to regain momentum. 'We luckily get to play a really tough schedule throughout the season, and I think that really helps prepare us,' George said. 'We get used to getting hit in the face and coming right back out and getting after it.' Advertisement Alexa Podalsky also reported from Concord-Carlisle. Alexa Podalsky can be reached at
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Why are woodpeckers attacking cars and ruffling feathers of US homeowners?
Why are woodpeckers attacking cars and ruffling feathers of US homeowners? Show Caption Hide Caption Dryocopus pileatus woodpecker damages vehicles in Riverlea village | Watch Residents of Riverlea near Worthington are covering their car mirrors to prevent mating woodpeckers from cracking side mirrors. Why would a woodpecker peck something other than wood? And what would you do with a woodpecker whose pecking is perturbing, perplexing and property-damaging? It's not a "Woody Woodpecker" episode. It's a real-life issue for some U.S. homeowners recently, who have been baffled by cracked car windshields and dinged side-view mirrors − only to find that the culprit is a neighborhood woodpecker getting a little too territorial with glass during mating season. When Stephanie Gallucci of Riverlea, Ohio, approached her car on April 19 as she prepared to leave for work, she noticed a woodpecker clutching the rear driver's side window, she told The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network. "Hey, buddy. I've got to drive somewhere. Can I have my car?" she asked. The colorful bird seemed annoyed, tightening its talons on the window frame and glaring at Gallucci. "Sorry to take your perch. But can I —" And with that, the pileated woodpecker flew off, retreating to a sycamore in her yard. Gallucci had her car back − but she didn't realize that neighborhood feathers would be flying soon. Feathered fiends: Unusual woodpecker species hammering Riverlea village cars with costly damage A quiet community on woodpecker 'watch' The day after her avian encounter, Gallucci noticed a cracked side mirror. She asked her husband, Neal, whether he knew anything about it. He didn't. The family moved to Riverlea, a small village of 600 people in Central Ohio, two years ago. Its leafy setting along the Olentangy River made it the ideal site for the couple and their two children, 8 and 10, to appreciate nature. Before the pair could clear space in their garage to protect their car from further damage, the feathered vandal struck again, taking out the other mirror, then a third mirror on the couple's other car. And they're not the only ones who've been hit by the chisel-beaked bandit. Their neighbors, too, said their cars' mirrors have also been damaged. "The bird's pretty cool," Gallucci told the Columbus Dispatch. "But, yes, it's done some property damage. Now the neighborhood is on watch. We try to protect each others' cars." Another tufted troublemaker in Massachusetts And Central Ohio isn't the only place where woodpeckers are wreaking havoc on innocent autos: In a coastal Massachusetts town, another pileated woodpecker seems to be up to the same sort of mischief. More than 20 vehicles have sustained damage in Rockport, Massachusetts, multiple outlets have reported. The birds, pileated woodpeckers with white stripes and a bright red crest, are North America's largest woodpeckers, as large as a crow (almost 20 inches long). It's the same species terrorizing, or at least annoying, the residents in Riverlea, Ohio. A Rockport resident, Janelle Favaloro, dubbed the bird "the pileated pillager" in the New York Times. Another resident, Mike Foster, said the woodpecker damaged a tinted window on his Ford F-350 truck and, for its crimes, "is looking at 30 years to life right now." Woodpeckers think reflections in mirrors are their rivals Woodpeckers usually hammer on wood, making their distinctive noise, to proclaim their territory and to signal potential mates, according to Usually, they stop in the spring, once the breeding season's started. Other reasons for the hammering: to excavate a nest or place to roost, to feed on insects inside the wood or to store food. Jim McCormac, a wildlife photographer and specialist, told the Columbus Dispatch that woodpeckers may drum on reflective surfaces, like car mirrors or metal, because they think the reflection is a rival − and that is more prevalent during mating season. The metal makes the drumming louder, and thus more aggressive-sounding. What should homeowners do about woodpeckers? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that most birds are federally protected and the woodpecker is no different. So don't go swatting a feathered invader with a broom or plotting a troublesome bird's demise; instead, try some diversionary tactics. The residents in both Massachusetts and Ohio said they've started covering their car mirrors with plastic bags to keep birds from seeing − and reacting aggressively to − their reflections. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers other tips as well, including immediately filling in and painting any holes the birds hammer into wood on houses and other structures. If there's an active nest, wait until midsummer, when the young birds have left. Netting along eves, models of owls and hawks, spinners and windsocks can all be used (sometimes with varying success) to scare off woodpeckers. Recorded woodpecker distress calls or raptor calls can also repel the birds. Contributing: Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch
