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Boston Globe
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
What the heck is Ecuavoley? Brothers meld Ecuadorian game with boys' volleyball at Milford High.
Part of the Ecuadorian population in Milford, the brothers played with their friends, watched Jorge play with other parents in backyards and at Fino Field, and in the past few years formed their own trio that wins most of its matches. Now a defensive specialist and senior captain, John is a key part of a 8-2 start for the ninth-ranked Scarlet Hawks as they look to be the first champion of the Hockomock League's new boys' volleyball division. 'When both of them made it to the high school, they had a really natural touch on the ball,' said Milford coach Andrew Mainini . 'You could tell they had hundreds, if not thousands, of contacts on a volleyball before getting to ninth grade.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Milford senior captain John Saguay (center) is flanked by his freshman brother Bryan (right) and father Jorge, who introduced them to the game Ecuavoley. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe Advertisement Ecuavoley is John, a volador on the family team, found the Ecuadorian style helped him in the high school game. 'I have to learn how to predict how the ball would go, instead of having someone else worry about it. I have to cover more space,' he said, describing Ecuavoley. 'I learned how to get it better with one hand when I couldn't get it with two.' Advertisement Initially, Jorge (the family team's colocador ) suggested his sons play high school volleyball to improve their Ecuavoley skills. Where a lot of Ecuavoley players will underhand serve with the higher net, John's scholastic experience made him proficient at keeping the ball in with an overhand delivery. He developed a quick launch while maintaining accuracy that gives Milford an advantage. 'If we're looking for someone to serve in a particular seam or to a particular zone of the court, he's a really good option for us because he is really consistent and tactical with it,' Mainini said. 3-set win for — AJ (@aj_traub) It is harder with the Ecuavoley ball, but he makes the adjustment and has a 92 percent service rate. 'For Ecuadorian volleyball, I have to put force into the ball,' John explained. 'In American volleyball, I have to absorb the force.' From weekends playing with friends, to competitive play as a family team, to a the Milford freshman team, Bryan thought the transition would be tougher. John Saguay has helped Milford reach No. 17 in the latest Globe Top 20 poll. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe A servidor for his family, he had not faced the power that hitters bring when the net is lower. His other Ecuavoley skills, such as positioning, helped him counter that difference as a setter. He finds his teammates improve when they try it too. 'It feels unique,' Bryan said. 'I tell them how it's different. Sometimes they're interested in that and want to play. The more we play, the more connected we feel. We learn some of the basic things that help them with American volleyball. 'It helps them react faster. You need to react to move to the ball, especially when it's a slight tap.' Though the brothers are able to lock in when they need to, they mostly keep it fun. Advertisement 'The thing about Bryan is that he's very upbeat. He's a very happy guy,' said senior setter Jason Comisky . 'I could see it in his playing. He plays with a lot of energy the whole time and he's a real leader on the court. The same goes for John.' Jorge has never lost his enjoyment for the sport. If he has a headache, he'll invite his friends to play and it goes away. He watches his sons play whenever he can, even though their matches start at different times, and sometimes he has to leave work early to make it. 'To see them here, having fun, to know they're happy to be at the school playing,' he said, 'That makes me happy.' Coach Andrew Mainini and the Scarlet Hawks knocked off No. 10 Cambridge, 3-2, on Friday for their eighth win. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe Set points ▪ Cambridge is on pace to blow past its 11 wins from last season. The Falcons (8-2) graduated top hitter Henry Bonney (now at Vassar) and libero Tashi Mulug-Labrang , but setter Eric Su is one of just three seniors this year and spreads the offensive touches out. Juniors Brennan Loud and Nate O'Connell have paced the No. 10 Falcons at the net, with four wins over ranked teams. 'They absolutely love playing volleyball,' said Cambridge coach Kelley Leary . 'They have good IQ too. They understand the game and break it down in ways that I can't say I've had in a while. They ask good questions. It's a fun group.' • In the next set of proposed division alignments, a few major Division 2 contenders would be moving up, barring successful appeals. Agawam (10-1), the 2023 champion, is the big name slated to move up. West Springfield (8-2) and Chicopee Comprehensive (7-3) are other significant teams planned to enter D1. Advertisement Chicopee Comp made a run to the quarterfinals as the 22-seed last year with mostly sophomores, and the Colts are showing it was not a fluke. One of their wins is Agawam's only loss. Games to watch Monday, No. 15 Methuen at No. 11 Lowell, 5 p.m. — It took the second matchup between these two to decide the Merrimack Valley champion last season. This is the first Rangers vs. Red Raiders matchup since Methuen won its second MVC title. Monday, No. 5 Lexington at No. 10 Cambridge, 5:45 p.m. — The fifth- and sixth-ranked teams will go head-to-head in a match that could shake up the rankings. Wednesday, No. 20 O'Bryant at No. 16 BC High, 5 p.m. — After winning only five sets in its last five matches, BC High will have to persevere to turn the tide against this top 20 team. Thursday, No. 7 St. John's (Shrewsbury) at No. 8 St. John's Prep, 5 p.m. — The Pioneers won the first rivalry matchup in April. St. John's Prep will look to take for the rematch as the two teams race to the top of the Catholic Conference standings. Correspondent Alexa Podalsky contributed to this story. AJ Traub can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-01-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Girls' basketball notebook: In memory of loved ones, Lincoln-Sudbury teams up in Hoops 4 Hope
The Warriors (10-2), ranked 18th in this week's Globe Top 20, earned a 46-40 win over Bridgewater-Raynham and raised $1,800 in the process. They'll distribute the money evenly to the National Brain Tumor Society and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. They also created a 'Hope Wall' outside the gym, where people could sign and leave notes and names of family members and friends who have battled all types of cancer. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up While it was certainly an emotional evening, it wasn't necessarily a somber one. The senior Schwartz and the two juniors know their relatives would have wanted them to continue to play with joy, even in their absence. Advertisement 'It wasn't about despair and sadness,' Lincoln-Sudbury coach Howie Landau said. 'It was about happiness, and the emotion of bringing the community together.' When Poland, Wallerstein, and members of the L-S volleyball team conducted an event for breast cancer awareness last fall, they decided they should try to do something similar for basketball. With their shared experiences as a driving force, they worked diligently to launch the plan. 'It's definitely affected us as a team and a program, so I thought this would be a really special moment,' Poland said. Landau was completely for the idea, and together they started to spread the word. He's grateful to the Lincoln-Sudbury community and administration, plus coach Cheryl Seavey and the Bridgewater-Raynham program, for helping to turn it into a reality. L-S athletic director Dan Lee said he's always impressed at the initiative and social awareness of the school's student-athletes. He said the planning of this night was student-driven and is a wonderful example of how student-athletes can use the platform of sport to bring initiatives to the broader community. Advertisement 'What makes the Lincoln-Sudbury community special is its unwavering spirit of unity and compassion, exemplified through events like Hoops 4 Hope,' Lee said. 'These initiatives reflect the heart of our community — where people come together not just to raise awareness, but to actively support and honor causes that make a lasting impact.' Schwartz, who has raised money through the cancer research organization 'A Shot For Life' with her brother, Ben , is grateful to have multiple communities that provide hope. She continues to think of her father every step of the way as she gives back. 'Playing basketball kind of became a way for us to keep his memory alive,' Schwartz said. Schwartz, averaging 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, said her father used to love Eminem's song 'Lose Yourself.' He played it before he got chemo and had surgery as a way to get himself in the right frame of mind, and she still thinks of it often before she competes. Lincoln-Sudbury's Evie Schwartz, (32), pictured dishing a pass against Bridgewater-Raynham, lost her father, Ken, to brain cancer in 2021. 'Playing basketball kind of became a way for us to keep his memory alive,' she said. Barry Chin/Globe Staff Wallerstein, contributing 9.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks a night, wears No. 21 in honor of her sister. She designed the T-shirts for the event and made sure to set the tone Friday. 'When my sister was going through everything, she was never sad,' Wallerstein said. 'She was always upbeat. I want to make sure everyone on the team is smiling and having a fun time, even though it was an emotional night.' Landau said Wallerstein's mother, Elin , told him that Alice's 3-year-old sister, Iris , got really excited in the crowd when she heard Lea's name. Poland, averaging 12.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, has seen the way her grandfather's death affected her mother. She views basketball as an outlet to 'let everything out' and used the event as a way to honor his legacy. Advertisement All three mothers and all three players have bonded through shared grief. When Schwartz, Poland, and Wallerstein each made the team, their separate but overlapping experiences were critical in bringing them together. As devastating as each loss has been, the heartbreak they've endured has helped them grasp the fragility of life and the value of family. 'We're all close even without it, but it's brought us closer,' Wallerstein said. Lincoln-Sudbury's Sarah Poland, (22), drawing a host of Bridgewater-Raynham defenders on a drive, views basketball as an outlet to 'let everything out,' and used the Hoops 4 Hope event as a way to honor her grandfather's legacy. Barry Chin/Globe Staff Alice Wallerstein (21), driving through a B-R double team, said her late sister, Lea, was never sad. She "was always upbeat. I want to make sure everyone on the team is smiling and having a fun time, even though it was an emotional night.' Barry Chin/Globe Staff Courtside chatter ▪ An impact player on varsity since she first stepped on the court at Notre Dame (Hingham) as a seventh grader, Ava Orlando joined the notable 2,000-point club with her 31-point, 10-assist, 6-steal performance in Friday's 79-44 nonleague win over Longmeadow. Only 81 other players in state have reached the lofty total. 'It was great to see my teammates so happy for me,' said Orlando, who surpassed the milestone with a second-quarter 3-pointer in transition. 'Hopefully we can continue to make memories with our tournament run.' Orlando can think on a dime mid-dribble, which is how she generates scoring. 'I let the opponent guess what I'm doing next,' Orlando said. 'Just with my overall IQ, knowing when to go and not to go, and moving the ball around me plays into it.' On Tuesday, NDA will honor Orlando before the Cougars take on Fontbonne at 6:30 p.m. ▪ With five key players sidelined, Blue Hills is making up for its losses with a 'next-person up' approach. Freshman center Sarah Michel , for one, is playing like a veteran. The 5-foot-10-inch underclassman is leading the Warriors (12-0) with 16.9 points and 11 rebounds per game. Advertisement 'She kind of does it all for us right now,' coach Nicole Flynn said. In a Mayflower Athletic Conference win over Bristol-Plymouth last Tuesday, Michel netted a career-high 27 points. In the following two games, she combined for another 32. 'She definitely scores really well down low, but there are other times where she'll rebound and go on a fastbreak,' said Flynn. 'She has the ability to go coast to coast, and she definitely is someone who the bigger the game is, the better she performs.' ▪ With four returning starters, plus the first reserve off the bench, Bourne (12-1) sits atop the South Coast Conference. Coach Steve Wenzel has a number of options, with senior captains Paige Meda (16.5 points per game) and McKinley Wenzel (12.5 ppg), his daughter, spearheading the operation. 'We play a multitude of offenses depending on what we're seeing,' Wenzel said. 'We can spread, high-screen roll, or we can run sets, the old-school two in the posts and three guards dump it in. I have some high-level IQ forwards, so our inside-out game is pretty solid.' Junior bigs Raeghan Blake and Nola Timo average 8 rebounds per game, and junior guard Aubrey France averages 6 steals, leading the league. 'From tryouts to launching the season, we've really been ahead of schedule,' Wenzel said. 'That's really been the key.' Games to watch Tuesday, No. 3 Woburn at Reading, 7 p.m. — A matchup of the top two teams in the Middlesex League's Liberty Division. Friday, No. 11 Braintree at Walpole, 6 p.m. — The Timberwolves have had their moments, but the hosts will need to be at their best in this Bay State-Herget showdown. Advertisement Friday, No. 15 Pembroke at No. 16 North Quincy — In a stacked Patriot-Fisher division, two of the top three teams go head-to-head in this top-20 matchup. Friday, Framingham at No. 14 Natick, 6:30 p.m. — The Flyers have stood out with wins against Lincoln-Sudbury and Natick early in the season, making this an intriguing matchup. Saturday, No. 8 Dartmouth at No. 4 St. Mary's, 7 p.m. — This nonleague contest features two of the state's most prolific squads. Correspondent Graham Dietz contributed to this story. Trevor Hass can be reached at
