Week One - Who Is the Diamond in the Rough?
April 6th, 2026
First and foremost…Happy Easter Everyone!
When I was a teenager, I used to love watching the NFL films collection. The guy who started that idea was Ed Sabol, but that was too early for me. By the time I got into watching it, it was his son, Steve Sabol who was running the show. Also by that time, the NFL had acquired the show and there was more pizazz to what they would put on the air…I love me some pizazz!
Unlike today, you’d have to be lucky to catch when these shows were on. TV Guide was available, but not many read them and set their schedule to find the shows they wanted to watch. Instead, when you were done with school, or work, you hoped to snap on the TV and find something you liked.
Again, I used to try to watch, as many times as I could, the NFL films. I loved the slow motion of huge dudes playing the game and colliding into one another. The wonderful, and massively dramatic, voice overs in a low baritone or bass voice…”Bart Star, would just have to play the game of his life…as all of the Cowboy’s chips were pushed to the center of the table in one last desperate act!” It was awesome!
So, I tell you that, to tell you the thing I remember liking the most of all those NFL films content I absorbed…by the by, the Dick Butkus stuff was remarkable, as was Lawrence Taylor! They had either Dick, or Joe Greene, speaking to the camera…as they often did. There would be a play, the horns would be bellowing in a march, and then the image would flip to an all time great talking about the game. I think it was Dick Butkus…or maybe Larry Czonka…anyway, the point of the story was answering the question about a game that had been extremely cold and brutally ruthless. Butkus said something to the fact of, “Yeah, it was tough, but at the end of any football game, you know who would like to keep on playing, and who just wants it to end.” That idea stuck with me. By end of the game, we all know who wants to keep playing and who wants to pack it up.
This concept also applies, in my mind, to a season. By the end of a season, everyone can tell who wants to keep playing and who wants to go fishing. So, with the season’s first week in the books, all in your program maybe should think about that. Maybe even plan about it. What can we do, to ensure that we want to keep playing when others want to go home?
Perhaps that’s the question to truly volley with… The answers your come up with and apply to the team / program, may be the difference this season. One never knows…
As always, good luck to everyone!
Big Stat Games of the Week…
Flavio Tavares - La Salle Academy - Pin - 16 kills at Pawtucket : 14 kills vs. Cranston East
Matt Rosemark - East Greenwich - Middle - 8 kills, 1 ace, 3 blocks vs. Cranston West : 8 kills, 4 blocks at Chariho
Rainen Paquet - East Greenwich - Setter - 30 assts vs. Cranston West : 31 assists at Charhio
Pablo Valdez - Central - Setter - 6 kills, 25 assists, 8 digs against Hope
Donny Park - Barrington - Pin - 14 kills, 3 aces, 3 blocks, 9 digs vs. Cranston East : 11 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs at Central
Cal Oberacker - Barrington - Pin - 7 kills, 10 aces at Central
Cam Gates - East Greenwich - Pin - 8 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks, and 2 aces vs. North Kingstown : 17 kills, 17 digs, 2 blocks at Chariho
Milo Sy - East Greenwich - Pin - 5 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks, 4 digs vs. North Kingstown
Cam Marcotte - Coventry - Utility - 14 kills, 11 digs against La Salle Academy
Cooper Amaral Morris - La Salle Academy - Setter - 34 assists, 2 aces vs. Coventry
Jayden Simao - La Salle Academy - Libero - 21 digs, 2 aces vs. Coventry
Ethan Pereira - East Providence - Pin - 12 kills, 10 digs vs. Classical
Caden Pina - Classical - Pin - 12 kills, 15 digs vs. Cranston West
Ian Nascimento - Classical - Pin - 12 kills, 17 digs vs. Cranston West : 12 kills, 2 blocks vs. East Providence
Andrew Ramos - Bishop Hendricken - Pin - 16 kills, 4 aces, 6 digs vs. Coventry
Ryan Yin - Bishop Hendricken - Setter - 31 assists vs. Coventry
Bryan Leon - Pawtucket - Pin - 11 kills, 2 aces, 15 digs vs. Lincoln
Cooper Markley - Pawtucket - Middle - 11 kills, 5 blocks, 8 digs vs. Lincoln
Aggerson Vetiaque - Cranston East - Pin - 20 Kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks at Barrington
Robbie Daniels - Cranston East - Setter - 37 assists, 10 digs at Barrington
ResV Team of the Week…
Week One!
Pin- Andrew Ramos - Sr. - Bishop Hendricken - 16 kills on the Oakers to announce his presence with authority…(name that movie quote!)
Pin - Ian Nascimento - Sr. - Classical - North of 12 kills twice. He’s the monster for the Purple you have to know about.
Middle - Cooper Markley - So. Pawtucket - Putting up double digit kills a lot this early in the season. Had 5 solo blocks against Lincoln!
Middle - Matt Rosemark - Sr. - East Greenwich - His presence in the middle requires your attention and it has allowed the EG pins to thrive. Also obtaining blocks at a career level.
Pin - Flavio Tavares - Sr. - La Salle Academy - Lefty hammer off the start that we all expected. Will be in the race for top kill getter in the state.
Setter - Robbie Daniels - Jr. - Cranston East - Fast, athletic, and precise…Daniels keeps the Bolts offense running well, regardless who is on the floor.
Libero - Jaxson Vachon - Sr. - Chariho - Will battle Simao for Libero supremacy all year, but for week one, Vachon gets the nod. Top tier defender and passes as good as anyone in the state.
Utility - Cam Marcotte - Sr. - Coventry - Marcotte does everything for the Oakers. No matter a win or a defeat, you can count on Cam to get 12 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces.
ResV Top 15…
(3 -0) La Salle Academy +1 (Wins over Pawtucket, Coventry, and Cranston East) - Didn’t take long for the Rams to get on top of the leader board…rightfully so, I feel. La Salle has a lot of pieces to the puzzle, especially Flavio Tavares. Flavio is 6’3, with good rise, and a big arm. He’s going to be very difficult to stop in the league all season, I don’t care who you are. The fact that Flavio’s Rams swept Cranston East in week one is a pretty strong indicator. Flav had 14 in that one and CE has some bruisers at the net. It is early though, and who knows what can happen, especially at the end of a season…but for now, Rams run the show.
(1 - 0) Bishop Hendricken +1 (Win over Coventry) - One game can tell you a lot…but as most understand, one is not a strong sample size for a pattern. In fact, one is the loneliest number you’ll ever do. Still, in terms of getting started, I don’t think the Hawks can ask for much more. Andrew Ramos did his thing and put up 16 kills on the left. I like the move to have Ryan Yin set. He’s athletic and can block pretty well, all while getting the ball to the pins. Ty Karten, sophomore, put up 10 kills in the match, and Zach Roebuck tabbed on three kills and four blocks. If it’s going to unfold like this every week, the Hawks absolutely belong in the top four. Then again, it is only one game, and truthfully they may be ranked too high here…but we shall see. They see Barrington and East Greenwich next.
(1 - 1) Cranston East —2 (Win over Barrington, Loss at La Salle Academy) - The Bolts did their job and sprinted out the blocks with a solid win over Barrington. Aggerson Vetiaque topped the sheet with a 20 kill effort on route to the four set victory. Next up was La Salle and that did not go so swimmingly. Stats were hard to find, but from what could be seen, Aggerson was not available for that one and Flavio and company basically took them apart. Now, this Bolts side needs Aggerson Vetiaque on the floor to be potent enough to remain in the top four. If he’s down, Jordan Frisone and Sean Dolan can get some of the scoring done…but it’s just not enough pop to stop La Salle and others. It’s sometimes forgotten that the best way to slow down an opponent is for them to worry about slowing you down. Moreso, CE is trying a different strategy where the the ball control guys are in the middle…we’ll see if a more traditional schematic my be emplored later. For now, it’s early and pieces were missing. Week two should tell us more.
(3 - 0) East Greenwich +3 (Wins over Cranston West, North Kingstown, and Chariho) - Mid-State Knights!!! A strong start to the season puts the Avengers in a top four position in the rankings. Now, is there more to be seen? Absolutely. Are they ranked a little high? Well, yeah, but who else is there? They beat North Kingstown and Chariho. Sure a case can be made for East Providence and perhaps Classical, but there are a lot of unknowns with those two…at least to start. It’ll all get washed out in a couple of weeks, but for the time being…why not the Mid-State Knights? Cam Gates, Milo Sy, and Matt Rosemark are off to flying starts. Rainen Paquet is setting the ball well and Zach Lepierre is doing his job to great fanfare already. I also like Zion Sun at the Libero position. It’s a fun team and they can pressure you in a lot of ways. So, let’s all sit back and watch what week two brings…because week two will probably showcase a lot of what they really are.
(1 - 1) Barrington —1 (Win over Central, Loss versus Cranston East) - Fly Eagles Fly? Oh Barrington. Here’s the thing…you can get 14 kills a match from both Donny Park and Cal Oberacker every night. Just put them on the left and set them high balls. Both guys are dynamic and can score in multiple of ways. Park has an excellent understanding of high hands expand, so he’ll use the block all day if it’s there. Oberacker is a high flyer who can basically jump over the block and hit deep into the court. Middles can run some decoy routes, setter Logan Lane, can certainly keep everyone happy with a set or two, and everyone is united on defense, but the offense can really run that simply. We’ll see what Barrington does when they have to deal with the physical Bishop Hendricken, and the always gritty and dangerous East Providence in week two.
(1 - 1) Chariho (Win over Cranston West, Loss versus East Greenwich) - Can you win games with a top tier pin and a top tier Libero? Most assuredly…see La Salle. To me, Chariho and La Salle are built very similarly. Jayden Simao is neck and neck with Jaxson Vachon for top Libero in the state. Landon Marland is similar to Flavio Tavares in that he’s the heater on the pin. That duo, Marland, and Vachon, will keep the green in every match they see this year. Kasey Poplaski has another year of service and should be very solid at the setter position again. The loss to East Greenwich hurt, especially at home where Chariho has a nice court advantage. Still, getting the first win out of the way on the CW helps the cause and I have a feeling this Chariho side will be one of those teams that hits their stride later on. They see North Kingstown, Cranston West again, and Westerly here in week two.
(2 - 0) Westerly +1 (Wins over Johnston and Mt. Hope) - Bulldogs magic? Westerly is trying to do something unusual…win a state championship with the boys side as well as the girls side. Not an easy thing to do, to be sure. Many have tried, few get it done. No pressure. However, with all that said, Westerly does have as good a chance as anyone. Henry Kenyon is a top beast in the league, while Nate Paciga sures up the other spot in the middle. Grady Auth has a second year of club under his belt and he’ll excel this year almost assuredly. From there, there are solid players up and down the roster. Standing in the way will be Pawtucket and probably Lincoln, I would guess, but that’s pretty standard now. For the past five years, it feels, these three have been duking it out. I’m old though, so maybe not five years…my sense of time isn’t that great. You get my point, though. Week two has the early showdown with Lincoln, so that’ll be fun…plus they get to see a solid Chariho side as well. Standard week, really for a team with crown aspirations.
(2 - 0) East Providence +1 (Wins over Central Falls and Classical) - I admitted I don’t know much about this Townie side this year. They beat Classical…Gentlemen, you have my attention! Granted, I didn’t think they’d be non-entities or anything. I just didn’t know much about what they had going on this year. Knowing a little more, I like the trifecta of Alex Robinson with hands, Ean Williamson with the different color jersey on, and Ethan Pereira hitting the volleyballs. Add a feisty roster who are looking to make noise, your standard East Providence grit, and you got a team that no one wants to play. I’m sure I’ll learn more as we go. Actually, I’m quite excited to do so. The league is way more fun when EP is causing teams headaches. They see Coventry, Barrington, and the CW this week. Additional data will be flooding in soon!
(0 - 1) North Kingstown —4 (Loss at East Greenwich) - Well, we knew this year was going to be different for the Skippers. Last year’s graduation took a lot of the roster that saw the floor. It’s the part of the job that’s always challenging…replacing the talent when they move on. It’s kind of easier at the college level…I can just recruit hard, at any position, and there is an ok chance I’ll land someone. At the high school level, you get what you get as the talent pool is always fluctuating. Now, I don’t think NK is in trouble yet. Sure, the EG loss was concerning. Both programs come from very different histories. Still, Sean Peters is a top force in the middle. Jayden Yang is as good a setter out there. If it were me, I’d just keep Mark Sardelli on the right. He’s a good block and can score in bunches. Tim Harrington would be in the conversation for top Libs, so I might put him there and see if there was another guy at the O2 spot to join Owen Schneider. Plenty of things to figure out and plenty of time to do so…but the road does not get any easier in week two with Chariho and La Salle on the docket.
(1 - 2) Coventry (Win over Lincoln, Losses at La Salle Academy and Bishop Hendricken) - The Oakers, once again, find themselves off to a tough start. They got a five set win over Lincoln, but then had to see two of the top four in La Salle and Hendricken afterwards. Sometimes, the schedule can be heartless. Still, Coventry battled. Cam Marcotte is legit threat everywhere on the net, and his overall game is now incredibly solid. He’ll do everything for this Coventry side but take tickets at the door. Marcotte’s supporting cast is game and hard working. One thing you won’t see is lack of effort from an Oaker side. Again, the schedule does them no favors as they see East Providence and Cranston East in week two. If they can get a split week, it’ll keep the wolves at bay as they continue to mold into their eventual form. Should it go wrong? Well, the schedule Gods are cruel…but sometimes that’s just how it goes.
(1 - 1) Classical +1 (Win over Cranston West, Loss at East Providence) - The Purple start the season with a split. Nabbing Cranston West helped the cause certainly, but dropping to East Providence left some questions. Currently, it appears Classical rolls with Ian Nascimento and Caden Pina for the offense. Both have gotten north of 12 kills in a match in week one. Jet Lin has the hands while, in general, this Purple side wants to dig the ball. Dig to counter is the play, which isn’t a bad idea if you’re not able to generate blocks at a premier level…though what is a premier level at the high school level? There is a reason blocking is described as the hardest skill to acquire in the game. I digress. Point is, this Classical side is once again poised to be a hard out throughout the year. They see La Salle and Pawtucket next and both teams will test their ability, and strategy, to acquire digs to turn into counter opportunities.
(3 - 1) Pawtucket +1 (Wins over North Smithfield, Lincoln, and Pilgrim, Loss versus La Salle Academy) - To say Pawtucket is fearless is an understatement. I think they play pretty fearless, but I’m actually talking about scheduling. No one, schedules like Pawtucket. They play anyone, anywhere, any week, at any time. It’s amazing. Week one, which is actually a week and a half, they got four matches in. They went 3 - 1, and had a five setter with Lincoln. Week two will see them play another four…St. Raphael’s, South Kingstown, Classical, and Woonsocket. Pawtucket, by the end of this week, will have played in eight matches…North Kingstown, Bishop Hendricken, and Portsmouth will all have only had three matches after the second week! Bryan Leon leads this Pawtucket side. He is a solid pin who can find the floor for Tolman. Cooper Markley, sophomore middle, is off to a great start this season as well. Pawtucket is eying another championship run and you know with all the matches they’ll play…they’re going to be ready for it.
(0 - 2) Lincoln —2 (Losses at Coventry and Pawtucket) - The Lions are all new. Well, not all new. There are some guys who have been on the roster for a couple of years prior, but still…feels like a whole new world. There is a new coaching staff and there is a new schedule to deal with. They’ve dropped two, but both have been five-set thrillers. One has to think they’ll break through way sooner then later. This club starts with Tyler Biddle and Jacob Lizotte. Both return from last year’s championship run and are caps. Biddle is a solid pin who has very good ball control, can serve tough, and can generate points. Lizotte was the middle two on last year’s team and can run the net well, and score when given opportunity. From there, and I could absolutely be wrong, it feels like a pretty new cast for this play. Regardless of that, this Lincoln side has it’s work cut out for them…though it’s nothing new to this program. Since coming on the seen five or so years ago…Lincoln tends to have it’s doubters…but not for very long.
(2 - 0) West Warwick (New) (Wins over Juanita Sanchez and Woonsocket) - The Wizards burst onto the scene last year when they upset a couple of teams that did not see the West Warwick lads coming. In those team’s defense, the Wizards, that year, played a very unorthodox style of volleyball. A very different brand of volleyball can cause all sorts of problems. I actually got to see that this year at the college level. Wheaton played a team that was unorthodox this season that we just couldn’t figure out. Sometimes it happens. All you can do is shrug. Anyway, back to the point at hand. Those West Warwick guys who did all the upsetting are now seniors…so perhaps some more upsetting is to follow? Maybe not, though. It’s way easier to upset a squad when they don’t know what you can do. Now, that everyone knows the Wizards could get you, it may be harder to sneak up. This crew starts with Colin Kelly. Kelly is a solid pin who can put points up in bunches. Add Ethan Pereia and Alex Osmena and you have a trio that can give you fits in a match. The Wizards have Lincoln and Pilgrim next…and that Lincoln game is at home!
(0 - 0) Portsmouth - The Patriots have not played yet…I’m interested to see what Jack Casey and crew can do with the bump up to D2 which will feature a whole new cast of characters to compete against…
Receiving Votes: Mt. Hope, Cranston West, Central, Hope, Toll Gate
ResV Player of the Week…
Week One - Aggerson Vetiaque - Cranston East - Jr. - Pin : Putting 20 kills on an opponent is enough to get you on the PoW list. Aggerson did it on Barrington on the right, against the top firepower of the Eagles (Park and Oberacker) on the left. Pretty good stuff to say the least.
ResV Honorable Baller of the Week…
Week One - Ziyue Wang - Cranston West - Sr. - Pin : In a tough week for the Falcons, Wang was still able to average around three kills per set. When Z has it going, he is very tough to stop and instantly becomes the guy Ashton Mak (the CW setter) is looking for when it matters most.
Playoff Races Through Week One…
D1:
La Salle Academy - Couple of big outings early sets the tone.
Bishop Hendricken - Small sample size, but all the markings looked right.
Cranston East - Humbled early in week one…still with a lot the pieces to get it done.
East Greenwich - Mid-State Knights off to a great start.
Chariho - Combo of defensive and passing prowess may keep them in the top four.
D2:
Westerly - They’re very tough in the middle and have pieces to hold the fort.
Pawtucket - Right back in the thick of it through grit and physical play.
Lincoln - Two five set setbacks…nothing of alarm yet as they get their footing.
West Warwick - Fast out the gate, but do they have enough to press the top?
Portsmouth - Waiting to see how they play…
D3:
Mt. Hope - Seem to be the head and shoulders favorite out the gate.
Burrillville - They’ve gotten two early. It’ll be interested to see how that fare when the schedule gets a little tougher.
Exeter West Greenwich - Off to their best start in a long time.
Davies - Wins over SK and St. Ray’s bodes well for this year’s campaign.
North Providence - Only one match with one loss…but it was to Mt. Hope, so want to see more before any action.
ResV Coaching Tip of the Week:
Beware the desire to over-coach your team… Currently, I’m at the end of my first season at Wheaton. It’s been a solid year and we’ve done some pretty cool things. We’ve also taken our lumps and have battled through the standard injuries, sicknesses, etc. During this time period, the injury bug attacked our middles, and I found the team working dangerously thin in that position. As most know, middles are, if done correctly, the hardest working position on the floor. To not have enough, risks burning out the few I had still working…a very dangerous proposition with plenty of weeks still on the schedule.
So, I did what I thought was best and engineered a solution with my lineup…I moved my Opposite to the middle, put in a new Opposite, and then ran something squirrely on the back end of the rotation to try to maximize my attacking in the “D” zone. I ran with it twice and won a game and lost a game. The game we won, just happened to be the biggest win of the program’s existence. The game we lost, however, happened to be our worst defeat of the year… I abandoned the strategy after the loss.
Now, I don’t regret trying the new strategy (and it did buy us some time for some of the guys to get healthy and continue down the path ok), however, the point I want to make today is that the only reason I tried it was because I was put into a corner with injuries. If you have all the pieces to a team that can do work, do not over engineer your crew. It’s generally only when faced with dire straights do you, a coach, start trying to get complex and unique with your overall strategy and schematic.
If you have two pins that can ball, two solid middles, a good setter, and a fine Opposite (along with a sure handed Lib)…let them go. Get out of the way and enjoy! I would love to be able to just sit on the bench and watch my team play standard, strong, volleyball and only call time outs when we need to refocus. Also, if you’re playing an opponent that you think you may need to be tricky and complex to beat, I highly recommend letting your good, solidly built team, give it a go normally first. Whatever happens in that first contest, could give you better clues on what to do when you see them again and want to be a little more puzzling.
In conclusion, let the problems and hardships throughout the season lead to your schematic ingenuity…and if none befall you, just put your best lineup out there, get out of the way, and let your boys work.
ResV Player Tip of the Week:
The word “maturity’ can get thrown around a lot the sports world. Coaches, and parents, love to use the term when talking about the future of athletes and kids. “Yeah, I just don’t think we have the maturity level yet to be focused on the job at hand…” as an example. Now, there is no question that when you’re in your teenage years, the brain is reconnecting neurons and shaping who you are to be in the future. To that point, in my mind, adolescence is tough for every single human…don’t care who you are. Perhaps, however, a better way to challenge the meaning of maturity, in this quick discussion, is to get to a point on your team, where you’re thinking beyond yourself consistently.
A player becomes mature when they can look at the situation they’re playing in and have a clear understanding that it’s not just centered around themselves. Decisions get made, often, with the idea of what will give the team the best chance to win…and sometimes that does not include you. Moreso, as your time with an organization begins to come to a close, a mature player seeks to leave the program better then when they found it…to also inspire the younger generations to greater heights then perhaps you got to see. Naturally, these thoughts tend to come from seniors as they enter the final season of their careers, both in high school and in college.
It’s in this vein that during your final season, you give your best, no matter the playing situation, to model to the younger guys what it’s supposed to look like. Imagine, if you will, that you are a senior and your coach is trying to build for the future, so the lineup includes some freshman and sophomores who are green…the mature player gives his or her all and shows the youngers players how to do it, while also making sure that their first varsity experience is memorable and special. Why? Well, if you are immature, don’t try, and act like a jerk…well, what incentive does that give those younger people to get up to speed quickly for you? I’ll answer…zero incentive. Senior maturity matters, because you affect the younger population for good or for bad. You may think it’s not worth it…or you’re upset with your coach and you’re showing them…but in reality, all your doing is showing how immature you are and poisoning the well for the future.
Leave it better then you found it, be inspirational for the younger players, and give everything you have consistently every time regardless of the score or situation. You’ll be remembered fondly and you’ll be surprised the amount of satisfaction and relief that comes from just doing that…
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!
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