Week Nine - Dancing with Finality on the Line…
June 2nd, 2026…
Once again, your favorite ResV guy will be the lead broadcaster for NFHS for the RI boys volleyball semis and finals at Rhode Island College. Even better, I’ll be joined by the starting setter for the nationally ranked Endicott College Gulls, Matt Tiernan.
It all starts tomorrow at 5:30pm. First match is North Kingstown and La Salle. Second one is Bishop Hendricken and East Greenwich.
It should be an interesting Semis and Finals and Matt and I hope to see you at RIC or hear from you throughout the events.
Play hard, Play Together, Play Smart… Care about your Teammates… Leave it all on the floor… Share the stories…
ResV Player of the Week…
Week One - Aggerson Vetiaque - Cranston East - Jr. - Pin
Week Two - Cam Gates - East Greenwich - Jr. - Pin
Week Three - Sean Peters - North Kingstown - Sr. - Middle
Week Four - Eli Lopez - Cranston West - Sr. - Pin
Week Five - Ryan Yin - Bishop Hendricken - Sr. - Setter
Week Six - Henry Kenyon - Westerly - Sr. - Middle
Week Seven - Donny Park - Barrington - Sr. - Pin
Week Eight - Andrew Ramos - Bishop Hendricken - Sr. - Pin
Week Nine - Andrew Ramos - Bishop Hendricken - Sr. - Pin - 35 Kills on EP is probably enough said…
ResV Honorable Baller of the Week…
Week One - Ziyue Wang - Cranston West - Sr. - Pin
Week Two - Luke Brock - South Kingstown - Sr. - Pin
Week Three - Zackary Rzemien - Coventry - Sr. - Setter
Week Four - Caleb Locke - Chariho - Jr. - Middle
Week Five - Henry DeLa Zerda - Cranston West - Sr. - Libero
Week Six - Armando Ramirez- Juanita Sanchez - Sr. - Pin
Week Seven - Ford Ernst - Block Island - Fr. - Pin
Week Eight - Rowan Pereira - Toll Gate - Jr. - Pin
Week Nine - Mark Sardelli - North Kingstown - Jr. - Pin - Played well against Barrington and was crucial in keeping the Eagles lefts at a pedestrian level.
Braketology and Predictions…
Seedings are RIIL, not ResV’s.
Standard note applies…if I picked your team to win, go get it. If I picked your team to lose, go get it and prove me wrong. Both are awesome!
My picks are based on what I’ve seen, heard, and think, could happen. I could be right, I could be wrong…
Currently, ResV sits at 10 - 5…Not as good as I’ve been in the past, but still acceptable…
D1:
(4) North Kingstown vs. (1) La Salle Academy at RIC - The premier matchup of the last five years is once again on display at Rhode Island College. Though one can argue Cranston East and Bishop Hendricken have played roles in the RI boys volleyball world during this post apocalyptic time period, the top two programs still were / are La Salle and North Kingstown. The North won two state championships (21 and 22), then La Salle won two (23 and 24)…Cranston East denied both of them last year…though it was NK that triumphed over La Salle in that particular Semis in 2025.
Today, La Salle side appears to have the upper hand. The Rams are the top seed in the tournament for a reason. They only have three losses… Needham (MA school), Barrington (NK just dispatched them), and North Kingstown (that match was more of the reserves playing for La Salle as the top seed was clinched already and there were some rest needed for the guns). When they played earlier in the year, the Rams took the match in three…but that was also on April 9th. A lot of water has gone under the bride since then.
On paper, these teams feel pretty similar. Flavio Tavares is the top opp in the game, but Mark Sardelli is playing pretty good ball in his own right. Jayden Simao is arguably the top Libero in the league, but Tim Harrington is pretty darn good himself and is on the same ResV top 30 board the same as Jayden. Cooper Amaral Morris and Jayden Yang are both very good and both will run a smart offense. Sean Peters is arguably the top middle in the conference, but Daniel Ayorinde is quite solid as well. Plenty of interesting storylines to follow…
With that all said, I think it’s these two head to heads that will decide it. Tavares vs. Peters and Bucco vs. Schneider. Flavio and Sean are in the same race for player of the year. Both could uncork it and go for 20 plus. Stephen Bucco has become a pretty sure-handed left (he was a setter his entire career prior). Owen Schneider is the best left side NK has and in true Skipper fashion has an arm that is capable of 15 or more. Depending on whose player of the year candidate goes off and which left side has the better day…the feeling is those four guys will decide it.
I like the NK turn around from the beginning of the season. From dire straits to the semis is pretty outstanding work. I’ve also predicted against NK once already and lost, so there is that. La Salle has some firepower, ball control, and grit on their side…a potent combination. There are also plenty of guys on that Ram side that remember the semis last year and have some scores to settle…
I think La Salle in four is probably the outcome. Flavio will have a strong match, Simao will be amazing, and though Peters and Harrington will bring the heat, the Rams will come out of it unscathed.
(6) East Greenwich vs. (2) Bishop Hendricken at RIC - I was intrigued at the prospect of Bishop Hendricken seeing Cranston East for a third time. Reason being? Well, they played each out twice in a week, which is super strange. Hendricken handled the Bolts both times and I felt that week was the moment that CE lost their steam. Like NK, CE got off to a rocky start but then middle of the way through there was a change. Their level was all of a sudden there…but that Hendricken week stopped all of it.
That thought leads to this…CE gets upset by East Greenwich at home in five. It’s a wild result as the Avengers trajectory was the opposite of CE and NK’s. EG started off like gang busters…playing really good ball. At the halfway point, however, the train came off the tracks. There was something like six or seven straight losses, before they righted the ship. So, East Greenwich goes into that quarter perhaps hanging by a thread and pulls off the upset…that’s some grit. Thus, to me, the Avengers are dangerous and Hendricken is probably aware.
Bishop Hendricken had a small rough patch this year, but it was way smaller and less damaging then East Greenwich’s. Overall, if you were to sort of gauge consistency in the D1 season, Hendricken and La Salle were probably the best lines. Hendricken has the best left in the conference in Andrew Ramos. Ramos is a hammer who has developed into a shot maker as well. His ground game and passing have caught up to his offense and blocking as well. He’s arguably in that conversation of Mason Andrade, Dylan McClung, and Ryan Harrington, the last three top lefts the league has seen (I have, and always will have, Matt Tiernan as a setter…Cody Tow was very good as well as Sir Charles Pincince…) since the apocalypse. Ramos destroyed East Providence with 35 kills, which is pretty outrageous, and he didn’t necessarily have bad night when he saw EG right before the playoffs (a 3 - 1 win for the Hawks).
Hendricken is not just a one man show. Zack Roebuck is the real deal in the middle. He’s 6’5 and hitting .500 on the season. I also like Ty Karten. Karten, the sophomore, is a pretty solid shot maker and can bring some heat. Ryan Yin is playing his best volleyball as a setter (the reverse of what Stephen Bucco has done - going from pin to setter) and Jackson Kretzer has solidified the Libero position. These Hawks serve tough and are very stout at the net…all things EG has recently experienced.
East Greenwich, however, is no picnic when they’re on. This is arguably the best EG team I’ve seen. Some will argue that there were some D2 championships won by the Avengers, but those teams were not of this level. Even when I was an Assistant, and then Head Coach, of the East Greenwich boys volleyball back in the 2003 to 2008 era…with Scott Grandpre, Mark Garlock, Dustin Baker, etc…I don’t think those teams match up. You’d have to go back to the Dan Greene coached teams with Matt Leyden and Andy Richardson I would think…maybe that 2003 or 2002 team with Kevin O’Leary and Jon Bentsen…
This EG team is athletic and has weapons. Cam Gates is legit on the left, Milo Sy is a high flyer, and Zach Lapierre is a cross court winner artist. The Middles are Matt Rosemark and Aiden Acuna. Rosemark is have a premier season in the middle and Acuna is playing his best ball now. Rainen Paquet is the orchestrator while Zion Sun plays Lib and keeps it all in play. The Avengers are a fun team and have as good chance as anyone to make it to the finals if they can muffle Ramos and get double digit kills from three, or more, attackers…
Now, the whole thing sort of rides on whether EG can slow down Ramos or not. If Ramos goes north of 20 kills, I think Hendricken advances. Similarly to my NK / La Salle write up, I didn’t go with EG when they played CE. So, there is that… Still, I’m going to go with Hendricken in four. I think EG will battle valiantly, but I think the pressure from Ramos and Roebuck will be too much…
(2) Bishop Hendricken vs. (1) La Salle Academy at RIC - With all of the chips pushed to the center of the table, it’s hard to bet against La Salle. Generally, in a match of significance, it’s the team with the better ball control that comes out on top. Passing the ball well, means you’re team is “In System” more then your opponent. This is crucial because your chance of scoring “In System” is substantially higher then if your out. La Salle’s Simao is probably the best ball control guy in the state. Bucco isn’t bad either. The only question that comes up for La Salle is will they have enough fire power to demoralize Hendricken. Flavio will do his thing, but who will step up and help him put the ball away?
The Hawks have the top left, and he’ll no doubt get plenty of swings (both in system and out) to put La Salle on their heels. I also think Roebuck has the ability to out dual the Rams in the middle…more pressure. The trick is going to be can the Hawks pass well enough to run all the options they have…or more importantly give Ramos as many good looks as possible to hold a three or four point advantage in each set…
Another item worth looking at is that Mike Harrington has won eight state titles with Bishop Hendricken…tied for the lead all-time with Coventry. We think of the mighty North Kingstown Skippers as the class of the RI volleyball world, and they are up there, but both Bishop Hendricken and Coventry have one more state title then them. It’s also incredibly rare for a Harri coached team to not make the semi-finals at a minimum…and yet this is the best team he’s had in at least five years.
The era of the old dogs is certainly coming to a close. Recent example would be the retirement of Mark Pavlik from coaching at Penn State, but there are plenty of other examples throughout all sports. One would think Harri would like to get to ten before he hangs them up. He’s got a good chance here and I just have this feeling it’s going to happen.
I’m going with Bishop Hendricken in four. Ramos will be superb and Harri will get number nine.
D2:
(5) Central Falls at (1) West Warwick - Well, this was the time I was squawking about a couple of articles ago. To me, it’s real simple. Either West Warwick is the unstoppable force they’ve displayed all year, or the lights are too bright for this crew. Kind of a standard we all follow, I suppose. The last time the Wizards made it to the semi-finals was in 2016. In the ten years that followed, there have been only a couple of quarter-final finishes…so, this current side’s position has been a decade in the making.
Now, Central Falls did beat this West Warwick side during the regular season…however there was a caveat to that. West Warwick was missing half of their starters in that one. Still, this CF team is as dangerous as anyone in Division Two. Jovanny Lopez is the real deal. Lopez is the setter that does absolutely everything for this CF side. He’s a tenacious player who often wills his side to victory through his overall play. Emmanuel Tavares is the main arm of choice for the Warriors. Tavares had 21 kills against Lincoln and was instrumental if putting the defending champs to bed. Ederson Almeida also had 12 in that match. The general consensus is that if CF can get rolling, they have a chance against anybody in the league…
West Warwick may be the one somebody who CF can’t get rolling on. I’ve been saying all year, that I don’t think any other team has the amount of weapons that the Wizards have. They have two high scoring left side pins in Alex Osmena and Michael Gallo. They have a strong blocking middle in Colin Kelly…who is just a menace at the net. The setter, Ian Degnan, is smooth and consistent, and the team’s all around ground game is scrappy and defiant. They move pieces around, they come at you from different angles, and they sell out to everything they do on the floor. If there is a weakness to their game that I saw, it was sometimes dealing with a strong right side attacks, but even that was a minimal occurrence.
Most importantly, West Warwick hosts this one. I think that will be the deciding factor here. CF will push WW a little bit, but the vibe in the gym will be all magic and wizardly…West Warwick in four.
(6) Central at (2) Westerly - Well, this one happened before I could write the article. Westerly got the vic in four sets and will once again play in the finals. The last time Westerly was in the finals was in 2022. That team was pretty interesting since it appeared no one set, and whomever the second ball came to just threw up a high ball to someone else. It was so odd, yet Westerly, who had some horses on that team, almost pulled it off… They unfortunately ran into a pretty polished Mt. Saint Charles team that basically ignored their shenanigans.
This Westerly team is pretty different from that 22 side. The Bulldogs have a top level setter in Grady Auth. Auth makes sure that almost every rally, Westerly gets a solid swing…which is gigantic. Henry Kenyon is the overall force of the offense. He’s having a player of they year type campaign and can score points from anywhere. He’s also probably the top blocker in the state. Nate Paciga is the little things guy, who will score, block, and do all the little things to bring the team over the finish line. All three, and the rest of the crew did their thing to get past Central.
All in all, it was a great season for Central. They had a strong season, sent perennial powerhouse Pawtucket to the fishing hole, and battled well against Westerly side who just had a tic more in the tank. Dewa Putra and Pablo Estrade were excellent in the playoffs and will most assuredly get some post season accolade love…at least I think they should…
(2) Westerly vs. (1) West Warwick - If Westerly were to win this…it would take five sets. West Warwick, by this point, would be properly battle tested and ready to systematically take the Bulldogs apart. Henry Kenyon would need a monster game, as would Grady Auth, and the Wizards would need some errors to accumulate. It’s not outside of the realm of possibility, but I’m leaning toward West Warwick here.
The Wizards can pepper the Bulldogs from all over the net. They’re also going to line up, as best they can, with Colin Kelly on Kenyon to get in his way as much as possible. Kenyon may be the best blocker in the state, but Kelly isn’t far behind and he’ll get him at least once. Gallo and Osmena will hammer some shots down the line to soften up Westerly and then the relentless pressure from the rest of the Wizard’s side should get Westerly in trouble enough.
I think West Warwick gets through in four and earns the hardware.
D3:
(5) Hope at (1) Mt. Hope - This one also came through before I could get the article out. Kind of not a surprise here, though. Mt. Hope has been the class of the league all season and probably was not going to slow down now. Hope gave them a run and was able to take a set of the defending champs…but it was not meant to be.
I don’t have any stats from the match, but the sets scores were 16, 19, and 24…which meant Hope’s level kept increasing each set, but they ran out of time. I’ve had matches like this, where everything might have changed had my team broken through…but we never did and it’s just a standard three-set loss.
So, the defending champs earn the opportunity to defend their crown and I have my doubts that anyone can stop them…
(7) St. Raphael’s at (3) Exeter / West Greenwich - EWG hosts this one tonight and I’m intrigued how it’s going to go. Truthfully speaking, the only way I sometimes painfully know how, I did not have much faith in St. Raphael’s. They were 9 - 11 going into the playoffs and they were on the road at North Providence…a NP team that had only lost three games all season! NP was ranked second…I had them third as I felt EWG was the better club, but still, St. Raphael’s went in there and upset NP in five. Amazing effort to say the least.
St. Raphael has a couple of middles that cause dread in the opposition. Jaymeson Taylor and Joe Clifton are bruisers and can cause all sorts of issues…ask North Providence. Tayer and Clifton will need to be on point again as they face Zoltan Libertini and crew. This EWG side is young and scrappy. They also have a good sense of “Goonies never say Die” attitude.
Side note here… I love the movie “The Goonies.” That was one of the movies of my childhood. Little did we know then that Mikey would become Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings…Brand would become Thanos in the Marvel movies…Mouth would continue to be just Corey Feldman. That movie…Highly recommend!
Again, the higher seed hosts this one and that is EWG. As many commentators like to say, “Cinderlla’’s time is up…” I think EWG gets it done in four with St. Raphael’s blowing them out in set two.
(3) Exeter / West Greenwich vs. (1) Mt. Hope at RIC - Straight away, I have this going five. The last time these two met, it went five. I think EWG is scrappy and awkward enough to cause all sorts of issues for Mt. Hope.
Zoltan Libertini is a problem that will be tough for Mt. Hope to solve. Matt Moran and Jackson Gould will be the front line in trying to deal with him and we’ll see how they do. I like the setter matchup a lot! Dylan DeOliveira and Will Edwards are similar style players and both do a real nice job of getting hittable balls to their top attackers.
I think it’s going to come down to whose left sides play well. If you’re EWG, you’re hoping for big things out of Derik Payette, and Casey Kretchman. If you’re Mt. Hope, you’re asking Dylan Shaw and Brad Harrington to bring it all home.
It’s coin flip time again. I’m one for one on the flip. That almost assures that I will lose this one, but let’s see… Mt. Hope heads, EWG tails…
EWG in five…wouldn’t that be something…
Week Nine ResV Top 15…
Bishop Hendricken
La Salle Academy
North Kingstown
Barrington
+1 East Greenwich
—1 Cranston East
+1 West Warwick
—1 East Providence
+2 Central Falls
+2 Westerly
+2 Coventry
—3 Classical
—3 Lincoln
Mt. Hope
(New) Central
Receiving Votes: Chariho, Cranston West, Portsmouth, Pawtucket, Exeter / West Greenwich, North Providence
ResV Coaching Tip of the Week…
Love your players…celebrate their hard work…and go down swinging if you have to lose. I think most coaches care about their players and want the best for them. Some players make it hard to do that, I know. Overall though, I think everyone has that idea in their hearts when they take the job.
Definitely celebrate all the hard work everyone has put in. It’s really important to recognize that for the program. Everyone sacrificed. Everyone put time in. This is what life is often about and must continue to be…
Lastly, If you’re not meant to win. Go down swinging. What I mean by that, and I’ve struggled with this as well, is even though it has become obvious to everyone that you’re not pulling this out of the fire, continue to coach your team. Continue to make moves. Do it all, so that your team sees that submitting is never the answer. We fight till the last whistle. It’s good for everyone to see that…perhaps, later on in one of your player’s lives they need to fight when the chips are down and they remember how you handled it…and sometimes, you may just pull off a miracle as well…
ResV Player Tip of the Week…
Act like you’ve been there before…
Work hard and let the chips fall where they may. If you lose, act with dignity. If you win, act with dignity. These are wonderful and heartbreaking moments, so live it and enjoy, but also think of your fellow teammates and competition…do it the right way.
NOTE- Thank you to everyone sending me information! This year it’s harder then ever to find stats from matches and obtain relative information. I may not respond to your email, but I am grateful for the data.
To send updates, stories, and players college decisions…or inquire about coffee beans that Coach roasts himself, to Coach Reslow - Scott.Reslow@protonmail.com
Coaches! Please feel free to reach out if interested in scheduling some time to talk shop! I’d love to help your program out!