Hawks reclaim Division I title

It was just the roster size at first, but Bishop Hendricken volleyball coach Mike Harrington immediately saw the similarities. Nine players, just like his memorable 2003 team.

As the 2010 season went on, there were more similarities – the Hawks turned into a tight-knit group, everyone contributed, the stars shined but the role players were just as important.

After Saturday, the Hawks could add one more similarity to the list.

They’re state champions.

Just like 2003, the 2010 Hawks got steadily better as the season went on and peaked in the playoffs. They completed the climb by playing their best volleyball of the season in a 3-1 victory over Chariho in Saturday’s Division I title game at La Salle.

“This is such a parallel to that 2003 team – nine guys who can all contribute, good leaders and they’re all very coachable,” Harrington said. “It's special when that happens. Everyone made the commitment to be part of the team, whatever it takes. It's such a key to success – everyone just played for one goal.”

As these Hawks wrote their own story and made their own mark, that was the central theme. And it paved the way for an impressive run.

Hendricken entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed, a team that wasn’t dominant, but one that could hang with anybody in the state. After beating South Kingstown in the quarterfinals, the Hawks out-lasted top-seeded North Kingstown for a dramatic five-game victory in last Wednesday’s semifinals.

That set up a championship tilt against No. 2 Chariho. Though the Chargers went 11-3 in the regular season and feature Brad Borsay, perhaps the best player in the state, the Hawks were confident. They beat Chariho in the regular-season finale.

“We knew we could beat them because of that win,” said captain Colin O’Brien. “They’re a great team, but we were confident.”

Confident and ready to play fantastic volleyball. On the strength of steady serves, a powerful attack and scrappy defense, the Hawks stayed in control throughout the first two games and posted a pair of 25-21 victories. In those games, Chariho never won more than three points in a row.

“The one thing I knew is that we would play well,” Harrington said. “I had no thoughts of us not playing at a high level. We saw them not too long ago and we watched their semifinal match, so we had a game plan in place. I can't say we executed it 100 percent, but I think we were in really good spots on the court most of the time.”

Every time it seemed Chariho was getting something going, the Hawks had an answer. Ted Suefert had a key block on Borsay to keep the Hawks in front in game one, and they pulled away thanks to a run of four straight. O’Brien had a kill and a block, Conrad Kaczmarek had a block and Brent Wallin logged a kill.

The Hawks also didn’t need much help form Chariho. Only six of their 25 points in game one came on Chariho errors.

In game two, the Hawks steadily pulled away. When Borsay tallied three straight kills to get the Chargers within three at 24-21, Harrington called a timeout. J.J. Bessette passed the next serve right to Kaczmarek, who put up a perfect set. Suefert put down a kill to finish off the game.

Just like that, the Hawks had held off another run.

“That's tough to do against a guy like Brad Borsay, who can just sort of flip the switch and take over,” Harrington said. “I thought we really focused on passing his jump serve so we didn't let him rattle off too many there. And offensively, we did enough to keep them from going on those three or four-point runs. We’re a team that’s been susceptible to runs but we didn't let them do it tonight. It was amazing, the focus we played with.”

The Chargers didn’t go on many runs in game three either, but they did manage to build a lead. After a Hendricken comeback, they jumped on top 24-21. The Hawks won the next three points to tie the game, but the Chargers eventually won it 27-25 on a Hendricken hitting error.

The Hawks were undeterred.

“Game three, we thought we were going to pull it out,” said captain Trevor Bernadyn. “We knew we wanted to get game four. Game five with Chariho is not a good situation so we just tried to end it as soon as we could.”

An ace by Bernadyn and a kill by Sebastian Noordzy helped the Hawks take a 7-4 lead in the fourth game. The Chargers took a timeout at that point, but it didn’t stem the tide.

O’Brien had two kills as the Hawks maintained a three-point advantage. After a Borsay kill, Kaczmarek landed a tip to start a run of five straight. Chariho took another timeout, but Bernadyn put down a thunderous kill on the next point as the Hawks jumped up by seven.

Chariho won four points the rest of the way as the Hawks rolled to a 25-12 victory. O’Brien clinched the match and the championship with a kill.

“You could see it just started getting away from Chariho,” Harrington said. “When you smell the blood in the water, you’re not going to let up.”

O’Brien’s kill touched off the kind of celebration the program hasn’t had since winning its fourth title in a row in 2007.

“I can't even put it into words,” Bernadyn said after the match. “I'm so excited right now and I don't think it's even hit me yet. To come out and work hard all year and finally pull off a state championship, it's awesome.”

Bernadyn led the Hawks with 19 kills and O’Brien had 14. But when the MVP award was announced, it was Kaczmarek – the senior setter – who got the nod. He finished with 43 assists, was 13 of 13 on serves and led the team with seven digs.

“I know it may have turned some people's heads expecting to see Trevor, but there's more to the game than putting the ball to the floor,” Harrington said. “Conrad obviously has a real important job as the setter, but what people won't notice is what a great blocker he is and what a complete player he is. He sets the block really well, he led our team in digs tonight and I think he's missed two serves all year. He's such a good player even if he doesn't stand out to the average guy watching. I told Trevor what a great game he had and even he said Conrad deserved the MVP.”

For this team, it was fitting that an unsung hero took home the hardware. From the beginning, the Hawks were a team of nine players who could all contribute. Throughout the playoff run, they all did. Wallin was a key all over the court and excelled playing opposite Bernadyn – “He’s been awesome,” Harrington said. Suefert and Noordzy emerged as key parts of the rotation and John Kane played well when called upon. Bessette shined at the libero spot, and Austin Bergeron gave the team an enormous lift in the semi-final victory over North.

“Everyone on our team is so valuable,” Kaczmarek said. “We couldn't have won it without every single one of them.”

Together, they authored one last special moment for a pretty special team.

“It's unreal,” Kaczmarek said. “We've all worked together for four years. It feels great to finally get a tangible reward at the end.”