Tight play as Hawks fly past Falcons

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 4/20/18

The Bishop Hendricken Hawks boys’ volleyball team swept the Cranston West Falcons 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) on Tuesday evening in Cranston.

“Not consistently great, but we were consistent …

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Tight play as Hawks fly past Falcons

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The Bishop Hendricken Hawks boys’ volleyball team swept the Cranston West Falcons 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) on Tuesday evening in Cranston.

“Not consistently great, but we were consistent today,” Hendricken head coach Mike Harrington said. “We hadn’t seen them. I know they have talented athletes, so we were really just trying to play a good level on our side. The scores really don’t matter at this point in the year and I thought we played okay with a lot of room for improvement. So, that’ll be our goal next time out, to play a little bit harder.”

Senior Steven Constantino, Hendricken’s big outside hitter, is a huge part of the Hawk’s offense.

“He’s a big strong player, does a lot of work for his team,” Harrington explained. “He probably led our team in kills, as he will most nights.”  

Harrington was correct as Constantino led Hendricken with 17 kills and Giovanni Zabatta, also a senior followed with ten kills and three blocks, while senior setter Alex DiLucia had 27 assists.

“Alex is a really phenomenal setter,” Harrington added. “So, he’ll be our primary setter all year. He does a real good job for us.”

 For West, Garrett Doidge finished with ten kills and six blocks while Charles Pisaturo contributed 13 digs while Kevin Hanley added three kills and four blocks to go along with 16 assists.

Hendricken leaped to an early 6-1 advantage on scores from Constantino, Zabatta, Jose Lamendola, and Nicholas Chihlas.

West was able to cut it to 9-7 when Virak Pond-Tor assisted to Nicsaii Men for a kill and then his teammate Kris Cimino followed with a spike.

However, West’s Sai Kamsani committed a serving error on his next attempt and Hendricken’s Lamendola put the next ball past Hanley and put the Hawks up four. After that, Zackary Fraser, Zabatta and Lamendola all earned kills before Sam Hines scored on serve, helping Hendricken to a 15-8 edge.

Hendricken went on to win the set a little while later when Zabatta dropped one into the campfire and got the Hawks to game point where he finished the set with a point on serve to get the 25-20 win.

In the second set, Zabatta scored with a block and then DiLucia, assisted to Constantino for a kill and gave the Hawks an early 2-0 lead.

West got on the board when Doidge scored on a return and got the Falcons within 2-1. Shortly after, the Falcons tied it at 3 when Doidge scored on a return and Scott Angily scored on serve.

Hendricken scored four straight points after that, starting with an ace from DiLucia, and then Chihlas followed with a return plus a spike before Fraser added a block to go up 8-4.

West was able to cut the deficit to 12-11 before Hendricken erupted for five straight points and went up 17-11.

Again, West fought back within two, the run capped by a spike from Doidge and a kill from Hanley, which made it 17-15.

Nonetheless, Hendricken took advantage of an unforced error against Doidge and then Hendricken outside hitter and senior Sam Hines assisted to Constantino for a spike and extended the Hawks edge to four.

Moments later, DiLucia dished to Constantino for a kill that got the Hawks to game point and then Chihlas earned a block on Hanley and gave Hendricken a 25-20 win of the second set.

Hanley, on serve, gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead early in the third, but a fault on Hanley’s second attempt gave Hendricken a point, which tied the game at 1.

Then, the Hawks went off for six straight points and went up 7-1.

A little later, the Falcons drew within 15-14 after Doidge scored with back-to-back returns.

However, Constantino earned a kill after that and helped the Hawks get some separation. Moments later, DiLucia passed to Zabatta for a kill and then Constantino threw down a spike and put the Hawks up 20-15.

The Hawks finished West off when DiLucia dished to Constantino for a kill and got Hendricken to game point where DiLucia found Jordan Akinsulire for the final point of the match, with Hendricken again winning by a score of 25-20.  

Hendricken moves to 4-1 on the season and hosts South Kingstown next on Thursday. West falls to 0-4 and plays at Chariho on Friday.

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