South County 17’s Adventure in Orlando!

7/21/25

This team…

Where do I begin. I could begin with the knowledge that I hadn’t coached a group of 17 year olds since 2008, my last tenure as a high school coach… I could also begin with I was not slated to be the skipper of this crew initially.

The norm was thought to roll out with me coaching the 18s and then the coaches slotted afterward based on what was the best move…but then a wrinkle was discovered that Jack Kenyon (who committed to play for Wheaton College and was attending Wheaton) could play a final year because of his age for club…as long as his future college coach was not coaching that team. There went 18s for me.

I could also begin with how this crew had to struggle to figure out a lot of things…most of which had to do with being pushed into the spotlight for their specific high school teams and trying to play bigger roles than needed. This happens a lot to club teams, truthfully. Club tends to take the top players from their high school teams, put them together on a side, and then they all try to do more…because that’s what they’re asked to do in high school. However, with a team of solid players and a college styled volleyball system…you do more then you’re supposed to, it messes up everything else.

Thus, with those things in mind, this team was born and thrust into the spotlight of club volleyball, not only in the New England, but also in the Pennsylvania region, Indianapolis, and ultimately Nationals in Orlando.

Nationals…

Unlike all the other regional tournaments in the country, Nationals is the most unforgiving…mainly because Day One sort of decides it all. If you go winless on the first day, you have zero chance to redeem and fight back into the top 16. I’ve heard that the division we played in had 65 teams, 72 teams, or 81 teams…I’m not sure which is correct. Regardless, to finish top 16 was the goal, and it all starts with day one…and our first match of day one was, quite frankly, a mess.

In a game of errors…who makes the least wins 90% of the time…it felt like we had it reversed in that first match. Like the famous funny adage for golfers that are not good, “Oh, I thought the winner was the guy with the MOST strokes! Boy, was I off…” We made so many errors, it was almost comical. Naturally, we lost in two sets to an ok, cocky, team…but the scores were closer then they should have been…which gave hope.

Second match of day one, we played a bigger, more physical team then us, and we gave them fits. It was like the team suddenly snapped back into what we looked like in Boston and at Regionals. We had played well in those tournaments and had snagged some awesome upsets…my favorite beating an MVP team that had beaten us in Boston…they were cocky too, and had their sights on winning Regionals. They met us and got smoked. It was beautiful. It was also Ashton Mak’s best match of the club year. He was masterful in that match. Anyway, back to this physical team we played on day one…had them on the ropes, but errors crept up on us in set three and we succumbed. It was a great effort…but a loss nonetheless. Moreso, we only had one more chance to get a win on day one or else be banished to the forgotten brackets.

The third and final match of the day was against a side that was not as slick as the first team, and not as physical as the second team…this team, however, could grind. We ended up going three, and if not for some heroic swings from Cal Oberacker and Flavio Tavares, we would have lost it. Point is, we were this close to being banished, but we pulled it out of the fire. We were still alive and had good volleyball ahead of us…and spoiler…we would put on a decent show.

Now, I’m not going to go match by match for the entire tournament. However, the day one adventure is critical. Getting that one win allowed us to survive and get placed into a pool that still projected toward the finals on day two. The other three teams in this pool had apparently gone undefeated on day one…so we were supposed to be the easy win for all of the undefeated. “Supposed…”

The crew came out on day two with purpose and we scored win after win. When the dust had cleared, all of those undefeated teams had tasted a loss at our hands and boy were they not happy about it. The biggest dub was knocking out a team from Virginia. We got them in three and it was a war. Jaxon Vachon, who on this day, and then on the next day as well, was tremendous! He kept us in so many rallies and allowed us to return fire when we really should have given up the point. When we walked away from the court after upsetting all three teams…I had a parent approach me and say we were one of the best New York teams he’d seen in a while…

If I’m remembering it correctly, day two I almost got struck by lightning. Recruiting in the morning was standard, but the 17s had the afternoon wave. I’d left the balls, the shirt I was going to wear to coach, and my bag in the car. I’d parked far away and in a different spot then I usually did because I left for breakfast at 10:30am to hit a Waffle House. I love Waffle House! So, when it was 2pm, I headed out the door of the convention center to find the car and stopped in my tracks…thunderstorm with sheets of rain coming down. Oh no. I stood at the top of the steps, with at least a 100 people, watching the storm and hoping there would be in a break in the action for me to make a go at getting to the car. Minutes past. Before I knew it, it was 2:30pm, and I thought…”They’re not going to wait for me to start the pool just because of the storm. I need to get the balls at least.” With that I darted into the rain.

I was soaked almost instantly. It was coming down so hard that my glasses immediately held water and with my sight compromised combined with not knowing exactly where my car was parked…I started in a direction I hoped was correct. Walking up and down a parking lot in a pouring thunderstorm is not a great idea. I decided that I had gone too far and turned to back to see if the car was closer then I thought…that’s when the first lightning strike hit the ground about 100 yards away. Huge thunderclap! My mind went to “think fast” mode. “Have to get to the car so I can sit this out on four rubber wheels.” So, I turned to go further back in the lot, away from where the lightning strike hit. The second one hit right in front of me…now half the distance from the first. I could feel the sound of the thunderclap this time. Can’t recall ever being that close to a bolt of lightning. Roughly half a football field away…50 yards… Now I was afraid. Death from lightning bolt was something I’d prefer not to do. So, I ran back to the convention center and thankfully made it. There were some slight cheers from the onlookers, but I ignored them and went inside. Drenched and a little unnerved, I stood watching the clock. I also reached out to anyone on SportsEngine, but ultimately didn’t see any of the replies. So, I went back outside, traversed the stairs, and luckily there was a dull moment in the storm. From there I got everything and returned to the court just in time for warmups for the guys. I still had to coach the rest of the day…

Day Three was my favorite day of the tournament. What a day it was! We kept up our winning ways and our level of play grew. For example, guys who were given specific roles were executing them so well! Tyler Biddle was passing darts, serving tough, and getting some swings out of the back row. Sam Rivera was serving ridiculous floats that were putting the opposition in worlds of trouble. Kevin Yeth jumped in the serving game with perfectly placed balls and then playing some solid right side defense along with a swing or two. It was good stuff all the way around combined with steady play from Donny Park and Henry Kenyon.

Coaches know, whether they tell you or not, their top ten wins in their career. For me, I know when I’m in the middle of special match when things slow down, noise disappears, and when it’s over, I’m giddy, to almost tears, with the result. My top ten coaching wins in no particular order are…

South County 18-1s win over LVC in the open at Mohegan in 2023.

Johnson & Wales defeated Vassar College at JWU in 2013.

Johnson & Wales defeated Lasell at Lasell in 2014.

Johnson & Wales defeating Wentworth at Wentworth in 2019.

Johnson & Wales defeating Emmanuel at JWU in 2013.

Johnson & Wales defeating Nazareth College at JWU in 2019.

Johnson & Wales defeating UC Santa Cruz at JWU in 2020.

Johnson & Wales defeating Geneva at Nazareth in 2020.

Johnson & Wales defeating St. John Fisher at Cal Lutheran in 2019.

South County 17s win over Pittsburgh on Day Three at AAU Nationals in Orlando in 2025.

How does the win against Pitt make the top ten for me? Well, first, that Pitt team had a middle that was borderline big time. He was 6’7, very good arm, and could get off the ground. Secondly, that team was filled with college level prospects in size and scope. Everyone was 6’4 or above and they were dismantling teams. Lastly, they had a great coach and coaching staff. Normally, at the club level, I’m coaching against former college players or kids that haven’t been in the game long. The Pitt coach was an old vet who’d seen some things and thus knew how to make adjustments and win tight sets when the talent was comparable. Anyone can win games when they have superior talent and the gap is vast. Good coaching means, in these terms, being able to win games when your team is on the other end of the talent gap. This coach was good and his adjustments made me, and consequently our team, have to think and adjust constantly. It was awesome!

Once again, we got a tremendous performance from Jaxon Vachon. He, and Donny Park, were truly our MVPs of the tournament. Vachon was like a professional hockey goalie, standing on his head to keep us in rallies. Park was outstanding in terminating plays we needed to have. He made great decisions and really worked the crucial high hands expand swing against the much larger team. We also got great performances from Sean Peters and Cam Marcotte. Dealing with their big fella was no easy task…Peters and Marcotte battled tooth and nail with him the entire way.

It, of course, was a three set thriller and truthfully, I didn’t think we’d come out on the other side. Midway through that final set, we’d gotten some huge swings from Cal Oberacker and Flavio Taveras to put us in a slight lead. Pitt battled back and we were deuce late. Then, Ashton Mak found Henry Kenyon for three kills in a row which sealed the win. They actually netted on the final point and I saw it the whole way…remarking, “They netted! Holy Smokes! That’s a real good one!”

All the wins that day, especially the Pitt win, catapulted us to a “challenge” match on center court. I’ve seen probably 100 matches on center court for Nationals due to attending for recruitment. Never thought I’d get to coach on it. We played another team out of Pennsylvania. Their style was pretty interesting…similar to my own. Set one is for learning. Set two we win. Set three, let’s see if you have the stones to battle.

We handled them in the first set…but they also got to see how we did business. When you’ve coached as many matches as I have, you get a feel for how things need to unfold to win. With the Pitt team, they were slow and methodical. We had to outlast them and provide two gut punches in the third set to win. Had zero idea when those punches were going to come, but they had to happen. With this Pennsylvanian team on center court, I knew we had to beat them in two. They played faster then us. They also were more physical then us, especially at the service line. We had three opportunities in set two and missed the train on all of them. We were also gassed, having worked so hard to get here. When you’re tired, mistakes happen more frequently. Better way to put it, a weathered dam starts to crack. Center Court is an experience nonetheless…stands of people, the jumbotron, different floor…the nines. To my knowledge, at least on the boys side of South County, I don’t think a South County team has played on center court. True achievement!

Though we took the loss in three on center, it guaranteed that we would finish top 16 in the tournament. The final day would have our squad fighting for the silver bracket crown. We dispatched an undersized Hawaiian team in the quarters thanks to Cam Marcotte and Henry Kenyon. We were having trouble breaking through, so I gave Cam the infamous instructions…”Go make it weird out there, Cam!” Weird he did and we broke through and secured the win (Coventry Volleyball tends to be a tad unconventional…so Cam knew exactly what I meant). We also had some big moments in that one from Kevin Yeth, Flavio Tavares, and Tyler Biddle. Sam Rivera also provided a spark as did Sean Peters and Cal Oberacker.

That win, however, came at a cost. Our crew was finally breaking down. The cracks in the dam had formed in the Center Court match. The leaks and final breakdown would come in the semis versus a team from South Carolina. They served us off the floor. Though we would put a minor scare in them, it was clear our tank was empty. Consequently, that South Carolina team would have their breakdown match against the team from Virginia we beat two days ago in the finals. Virginia would officially finish 9th. South Carolina 10th. South County 17s and the Pennsylvanian team we lost to on Center Court would finish tied for 11th…out of at least 65 teams...maybe more.

In the end, this team exceeded my projections and took probably the largest steps forward out of any team I coached at the club level. They were always good kids. They worked hard, got along well with each other, and really just loved playing volleyball. I’m sure they viewed me as an old guy who cared way to much about how the game should be played and needed to relax…and they’re probably not wrong…but I did see the path forward and I felt if I could get them to see it too, we could win some ball games.

My final talk with them was simple…I thanked them for all of their hard work and dedication. I let them know how appreciative I was of this Nationals journey. I told them they were all college prospects of some sort, so please consider playing at the next level. Lastly, they could reach out with anything…as anyone who plays for me…I’m their coach for life. You may never need a thing from me again, but I’ll always be there if you do.

That’s the story of the South County 17s at Nationals. When it was said and done, people knew who we were and we were the fan favorite for a bit…the best team out of New York in a while…(Long Island and Rhode Island…same thing…)

South County 17’s

#32 Donny Park - 6’5 - Pin from Barrington

#10 Cal Oberacker - 6’3 - Pin from Barrington

#20 Flavio Tavares - 6’3 - Pin from La Salle Academy

#13 Henry Kenyon - 6’3 - Middle from Westerly

#42 Cam Marcotte - 6’3 - Middle / Pin from Coventry

#15 Sean Peters - 6’6 - Middle from North Kingstown

#2 Ashton Mak - 6’1 - Setter from Cranston West

#5 Jaxon Vachon - 6’0 - Libero from Chariho

#14 Sam Rivera - 5’8 - Libero / Serve Specialist from Cranston East

#3 Kevin Yeth - 5’10 - Libero / Serve and Defensive Specialist from Cranston East

#4 Tyler Biddle - 6’0 - Pin from Lincoln

Head Coach Scott Reslow