Cape Tech Volleyball Earns First Win In Follow-Up To 17-3 Season

PLEASANT LAKE – Up two sets to none against Monomoy last Friday, Cape Tech volleyball head coach Jasmine Goncalo made the move to put freshmen Lia Marie and Isabella Da Silva into the game to get them some playing time.

Not much later, Monomoy took an early lead and maintained it. A fourth set loss, to the Crusaders’ dismay, looked close to imminent. But Monomoy’s 18-13 advantage shrunk to 19-17. The Sharks called a timeout. Cape Tech wouldn’t go away, and Monomoy’s lead became 23-22. The Sharks called another timeout. The Crusaders scored the next three points to secure the straight sets victory, the come-from-behind third set delivering the team’s first win of the season.

“We just keep our calm and cool on the court so we can build up, and we always keep each other happy and just positive on the court,” senior Megan Bird said. 

Cape Tech, as it turns out, may be adept at coming back. In the season opener against St. John Paul II on Sept. 3, the team fought back from about 10 points down, according to Goncalo, in what ultimately was a straight sets loss.

“I do think they're really good at coming back and keeping a good attitude on the court,” she said. “Like I don't ever see them all mad at each other or distressed and everyone's making mistakes, so I think that's a really important part of coming back, like actually keeping the good energy.”

The Crusaders are following up a 17-3 campaign last year in which they qualified for the MIAA Division 5 state tournament as the No. 12 seed. The success in that first season for Goncalo, a Cape Tech alumna, surprised her. Goncalo, 22, has played volleyball since she was a kid and was a libero for the Crusaders, but she had never coached before when she got the job just a few days before the preseason started last year.

This season, the team is looking to fill the spots left by graduated seniors Milowa Frias and Sarah Feliz de Jesus. Goncalo is hoping for the best, she said. In any context, no doubt, it would be difficult to replicate last year’s .850 winning percentage. On Monday, Cape Tech lost 3-2 against Sturgis East to drop to a 1-2 record in the early goings.

Against Monomoy, Cape Tech swiftly controlled the first set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead on the way to a 25-11 final. The second was tighter, as the Sharks won four straight points to make it 24-22 before the Crusaders hung on to take the set. 

“I think we worked well as a team, because we lost really good seniors last year, and we're trying to still work together,” Bird said.

Bird, a setter, was to Goncalo one of the stars of the match. 

“She was all over the court and really, really helping with our offense,” Goncalo said.

The other stars of the season’s first win, according to Goncalo, were Gabi DaCosta and Sofia Todoroff, who both excelled on defense. Todoroff in particular “absolutely killed it with her offense,” Goncalo said.

“I definitely think there's still some cleaning up to do, but I'm much happier today than I was on Wednesday last week, our first game,” she said. “We're definitely getting it together, and I think the thing is that we just have some new girls on varsity, so team chemistry is taking a little bit of time, but I think we're looking at a good season.”

Goncalo is keeping the same messaging as last year. There are six seniors on the team, but several players were on junior varsity last season. 

“Having them actually put on the court what I'm teaching them is taking a little bit of time, but we're definitely getting there,” Goncalo said. “I'm definitely seeing a lot of improvements from preseason till now, so I'm happy.”