The Trumbull High boys volleyball team moved into fourth place in the FCIAC standings with a 3-0 victory over St. Joseph.
The top four teams qualify for the conference tournament, something the Eagles have been striving to achieve the past few seasons.
“Coverage was excellent today. We were everywhere we were supposed to be,” said Trumbull coach Tamara DeBerry, adding that John Brindisi, especially, did well in helping the Eagles keep balls in play to earn second-chance points in the 25-15, 25-17, 25-18.
Brindisi compiled 20 digs to go along with 10 service points for Trumbull, which improved to 6-2.
Jeremiah Carabollo had 10 kills, nine digs and three aces. Justyn Schueler recorded nine kills, six digs, three aces and one block. Jimmy Donahue had nine kills, four digs and 12 service points.
“I think we did a really good job of hitting, especially covering,” Donahue said. “I’m hopeful for the rest of the season.”
Despite the loss, the Cadets were able to find some positives from this match.
Coach Martin Dempsey noted that outside hitter Joe Silvestro had a strong match, and many of his players did a nice job blocking at the net. “Our front row played much better today than we have in the last couple of matches,” Dempsey said.
Silvestro tallied 11 kills and came up with a block for St. Joseph (0-5).
Matt Reis had 14 assists and one kill.
“We’re really deep — we have a lot of different weapons. Our goal is just to get everything going at the same time,” DeBerry said. Even when the Eagles had their kill attempts blocked, the team’s positioning led to points. “We were able to capitalize in that way,” DeBerry said.
The Trumbull-St Joe’s rivalry is always an exciting one for participants from both schools.
“They like it. It’s fun competition,” DeBerry said.
“It just gives you that feeling you don’t get when you play other teams,” St Joe’s captain Joe Lucy said.
For Dempsey, every match is just as meaningful as the next.
“It’s more of a fun thing for them. It’s another team as far as I am concerned,” he said. “Every match is just as important as the other.”
For the Cadets, it’s been a challenging season considering the players are putting in their all, but haven’t been rewarded with a victory. The FCIAC, of course, is loaded with high-level teams, including defending state champion Ridgefield and runner-up Darien.
“We play hard but nothing’s going our way this year,” said Reis, a captain.
“They work hard. I can’t ask for anything more,” Dempsey adds. “There’s a lot of the season left, but we still have a lot of work to do.”