When Nick Penberthy took over as the Head Coach of the Frontier Boys Volleyball team he was lucky enough to inherit a senior-laden roster with the firepower and grit to make a deep playoff run.
Last year’s Falcons would advance all the way to the Section VI Finals where they would trade blows with Lockport. The Lions narrowly squeezed past Frontier with four of the five games being decided by less than a five point spread, including a 15-12 nail-biter to finish the match.
While it wasn’t the outcome Frontier was looking for it was exactly what the younger generation of Falcons needed to see from their outgoing seniors.
Last year’s graduating class (Ben Taylor, Brian Norsen, Brandon Dunz, Joe Dreyer, Nick LaPaglia, Chris Jones and Elliott Robinson) set a clear example for the underclassmen in what it means to play Frontier Volleyball.
“We are going to be focused on building together as we are very young this year. When you lose a group of senior starters like last year’s class, there are big shoes to fill,” said Penberthy. “It will take us some time to get up to varsity game speed, but the growth mindset and willingness to learn and improve from the group as a whole is exciting for me as a coach.”
Returning from last year’s squad are seniors Jake Jackson, Luke and Kyle Zak.
They’ll be joined by juniors Jack Gall (in-season Varsity call-up last year; named the Falcons’ captain earlier this week), Kaleb O’Hara, Mitchell Wilson, Dylan Barone, Mike Evans, Jack Diplock and James Henry.
Four sophomores also got the nod to join Varsity. Liam Duggan, Donnie Ernst, Brady Gleason and Tom Pokornowski fill out a young Frontier team that will begin the year with their focus on building their chemistry on the court.
The Falcons kickstarted that process over the Winter while playing with Frontier Volleyball Club’s 16u team, attending their annual HS Volleyball Camp and sending players to the HS Beach Volleyball 4’s league that ran from June – August.
“This is a group that is going to play together for a couple of years. We are working on our attack timings, increasing defensive and offensive awareness in our systems, and consolidating to one communication system. When that starts to meld into one cohesive unit, we will start to see quality volleyball on the court.”
The new-look Falcons kick-off their season at the Clarence Tournament on Saturday, August 31st.
Frontier will host Hamburg on Wednesday, September 4th for their first ECIC 1 match.
