FITCHBURG — The Fitchburg High boys volleyball team made first-year head coach Cedric Robinson’s inaugural contest a memorable one.
The Red Raiders had little trouble with visiting Wachusett Regional Thursday afternoon as Fitchburg cruised to a 3-0 win at the Doug Grutchfield Field House.
Fitchburg took care of the Mountaineers by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19.
“I was very excited about what I saw out of my guys today. We had some big plays from some of our big players,” said Robinson, who was the program’s junior varsity coach last season. “We don’t have a team that is loaded with height,but we have some really strong players up front around the net who have big arms. It was a strong team win and I’m happy we could get the first one out of the way.”
When asked about jumping into the varsity head coaching role this season, Robinson says that trust is really important between the coaching staff and the players.
“One of the biggest things about me stepping into this position is I want to make sure these guys trust me as much as possible,” said Robinson. “Trust and communication are really important when coming into a position like this, especially if we have players that are new to the volleyball game.”
Following a 25-20 win in the first set to grab control early, Fitchburg looked to push the Mountaineers on the edge of defeat in the second set.
Strong net play from Saiyin Vue and Broley Vue highlighted early play for the hosts in the second set.
With the match deadlocked at 15, Fitchburg’s Brian Vega showed some strong service from behind the line as he registered a handful of service points and added an ace. Vega’s ace gave the Red Raiders a 21-16 lead and the hosts never looked back as it locked up a six-point victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
To the Mountaineers credit, they never gave up. In the third set, the tourists hung tough. An unforced error by the Red Raiders pulled Wachusett even at 13 more than halfway through the set. However, Fitchburg answered with five straight points, highlighted by a kill from Kyu Yang.
With the Red Raiders up 18-13, the Mountaineers (0-1) would be forced to play catch up the remainder of the match. Fitchburg maintained the upper hand the remainder of the way, scoring four of the final five points to secure the set and the match victory.
“We are fortunate that we have a strong group that shows great athleticism,” said Robinson. “It’s tough to get a gage on your opponent when it’s the first match of the season, we didn’t know much about this Wachusett team. One thing I will say is shout out to Wachusett’s setter. He’s improved a lot from when we played them last year.”
The Red Raiders return to action on Monday afternoon when they welcome Leominster High to the Grutchfield Field House for an early season clash between the rival schools.