‘Mindset Shift’ Powers Cape Tech Volleyball In Comeback Bid

PLEASANT LAKE – The Cape Cod Tech volleyball team put together an impassioned comeback effort that fell short by just about the slimmest margin possible Sept. 30 against Bristol Aggie.

For first-year head coach Sarah Calogero, what went down on the court had everything to do with what was happening inside players’ heads.

What ended in a 3-2 win for Bristol Aggie (25-16, 26-24, 17-25, 12-25, 15-13) began early on during the first set with a blow dealt to the Crusaders after junior captain Avery Graham, a libero, exited the game due to injury. During that opening set, Cape Tech played like a group that had just lost a leader.

But volleyball is a game played point by point and set by set. And something — momentum, fortune, execution, whatever one believes is the thing that dictates the ebb and flow, the tide, of a match — changed midway through the second set.

The Crusaders trailed double digits, then rebounded all the way to as tight as a 23-23 tie, until Bristol Aggie sneaked out the 26-24 set win.

Cape Tech proceeded to comfortably win the third and fourth sets to force a deciding fifth, which the Chieftains escaped with, 15-13. Reflecting the dynamic of the game as a whole, the Crusaders during that last set again mounted a response, a five-point run to get as close as 14-13.

Sure it was a loss, but the body of work inside the gym reflected the mental tenacity of the players, their ability to adjust to adversity.

“I think often it's a mindset switch, right?” Calogero said. “They have it, obviously. They have the skills. They have the ability. When a player gets hurt, a beloved player, a captain, it's trying to transition from that.”

The close match was nothing new for the Crusaders (2-7). Of nine games this year (as of The Chronicle’s Tuesday deadline), four have gone five sets.

Their ability to shift mindsets, according to Calogero, allows them to understand that just as one set ends, the moment to figure out the next immediately begins.

“You win one and then you lose one,” Calogero said. “You have an opportunity to win another, and I think just them learning how to play with that and learning how to play off of a loss, they're improving day by day with that, and I think it looks great so far.”

Cape Tech dominated the fourth set on the back of a run anchored by the serve of junior Mackenzie Hardy. She and the rest of the Crusaders played to a 13-2 lead before the next side-out.

Poetically, Cape Tech took the set once Hardy rotated back to serve. She delivered an ace into the back left corner of Bristol Aggie’s end for the winning point.

The team had been working on spot serving, i.e. aiming at a specific location on the court, and the pay-off showed. 

Calogero said Hardy is “a wonderful player” who “did an excellent job” against the Chieftains.

“Insane,” Calogero said. “She has a wonderful serve.”

This season is the first-ever coaching experience for Calogero, a social studies teacher at Cape Tech. She played volleyball at Middleborough High School.

She entered the role with the perspective of a teacher, an emphasis on simply being there for the girls and building trust as a result. At the end of practices, the team runs scrimmages or queen of the court drills.

“That's really what it is, is being able to have fun on the court with each other — being able to, like I said, that mindset shift, being able to play with each other,” Calogero said. “I think being a positive role model for them, as well as helping them with fundamental skills, is the way to go.”

Per the MIAA’s most recent power rankings released Tuesday, the Crusaders are No. 27 in Division 5. Should that hold, it would be their sixth consecutive state playoffs berth. Just about half the season remains.

“When they work together, when they communicate, when they cover, they're unstoppable in that way,” Calogero said. “They play really well as a team.”