'It was amazing'; New Bedford High volleyball stays perfect with season sweep of Voc-Tech

NEW BEDFORD — The Whalers are back.

It’s been nearly a decade since the New Bedford High boys volleyball team had won at the Z. Walter Janiak Fieldhouse.

That streak ended on Friday night.

The undefeated Whalers defeated rival GNB Voc-Tech, 3-0, in front of a packed house to keep the City Challenge Cup trophy, capture a rare regular-season sweep of the Bears and stay perfect on the year.

“It was amazing,” said New Bedford senior setter Carter Barbosa of his team's first win over GNB Voc-Tech on the Bears' home court since 2015. “I was waiting for it and we got it done.”

This rivalry has been pretty one-sided in recent years with GNB Voc-Tech having the upper hand over the last decade or so, but the Whalers have turned the corner this season.

“It reminds you of back when it used to be like this, when every year it was back and forth and you don’t know who is going to win the city title,” said New Bedford head coach Ben Kaeterle. “It’s come a long way.”

Even though New Bedford won in three sets, Voc-Tech challenged the Whalers in the first two sets with the largest lead being just six points. The Bears trailed just 10-9 in the third set before New Bedford pulled away for the nine-point win.

Kaeterle said the level of boys volleyball across the entire city of New Bedford has taken a big jump thanks to offseason work where players from both teams are training with one another. Voc-Tech head coach Richie Gomes has worked with many of New Bedford’s players through Supreme while some of the Bears have played for Kaeterle in the Bay State Games.

“I’m coaching a lot of his guys at Bay State and he’s coaching my guys in the winter. We’re trying to elevate this level,” Kaeterle said. “When we’re on the court, we’re battling it out, but when we’re off the court we’re all training together as a city so it’s nice to see the city play at a high level. When we’re not playing each other, we’re rooting for each other to go far.

“This is the best rivalry in volleyball for high schools in Massachusetts and it’s getting back to that level.”

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SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS

A driving force behind New Bedford’s remarkable season has been the play of Barbosa, a three-year starting setter.

“He makes us go,” Kaeterle said. “He’s the most coachable kid in the world. He’s smart. He’s talented. He’s got it all going. Having him as a leader and a focal point and touching the ball every single play and being consistent, it’s great. He’s so reliable.”

Barbosa started off at New Bedford High playing middle hitter for the JV team his freshman year. When he moved to varsity as a sophomore, he made the transition to setter.

“Sophomore year they molded me and shaped me into a setter and I was alright,” said Barbosa, who will attend Harvard University next year. “I was brand new to setting. Last year, I kept working on it. I’m at my peak right now.”

Barbosa said he has so many options at the net this year. On Friday, five different hitters had at least three kills with Juan Grau Montano and Nyron Foster leading the way with seven kills apiece.

“It makes my job super easy,” said Barbosa, who had 20 assists and four digs. “It’s amazing. I love the intensity everytime I set the ball. I’m not even worried. I know we’re getting a kill no matter where I go. Opposite, middle, outside — we have so many great weapons.”

New Bedford junior middle hitter Amir Salih Tavares said that Barbosa sets the tone on and off the court.

“Carter is really the foundation of our team,” Tavares said. “He’s just a great leader. He keeps us all level headed. He makes smart plays. He challenges us on the court and off the court.

“He’s going to Harvard so we really take care of his studies and he pushes us to do that too. He’s really great for motivating us off and on the court.”

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HOW IT HAPPENED

With the first set tied at 20, the Whalers scored five of the next six points to win 25-21 on a block by Montano. In another close battle in the second set, New Bedford used a string of four serves from junior Nick Rosa to pull away en route to a 25-21 win. After being tied at 10 in the third set, New Bedford outscored Voc-Tech 15-6 the rest of the way to win 25-16.

WHAT IT MEANS

WIth the win, New Bedford improved to 15-0 overall. The Whalers host Brockton on Monday. … The loss dropped Voc-Tech to 10-4. The Bears host Quincy on Monday.

NOTES

Colin Stuessi led the Bears with 10 kills and 18 digs while Aryen Rodriguez had 12 assists and nine digs and Carlos Anya added five kills and two blocks.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford boys volleyball sweeps Voc-Tech for second time this year