By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
BARNSTABLE, Mass. - The eyes of nearly the entire Northeast volleyball world will be focused here on Monday night, Sept. 10, when the Barnstable High girls volleyball team attempts to do the unthinkable - win its 100th match in a row.
Two points should first be noted, however:
One, this will be the second time in the past nine years - not the first - that the Red Raiders have approached the century mark in consecutive victories. Their first attempt, in 1998, ended at 90 wins in a row.
And two, this is no big deal to Barnstable, which will face mid-Cape Cod neighborhood rival Dennis-Yarmouth on Monday as its tries for the magical 100 mark. The state record for consecutive wins is 104, held by Case High.
"Streaks and records are the furthest things from the girls' minds," said Barnstable coach Tom Turco. "All they're interested in is trying to achieve the goals they've set for themselves and trying to get better."
In Massachusetts, there is simply no one better than Barnstable, which not only won its fourth consecutive state Division 1 title last November with a 25-0 record, but did not lose a single game. That's right. The Red Raiders won every match by 3-0, including their inexorable run through the Massachusetts South Sectional championships and through the state semifinals and final.
In addition to going 99-0 since early in the 2003 season, Barnstable is 172-4 since the 2000 season and 345-11 since 1993. Their five seniors last season, Erin Johnson, Jessi Goode, Allie Appleman, Natalie Cohen and Marissa Pita, went their entire four-year scholastic careers without losing a match. Turco, whose claim to volleyball-playing fame was a year of club ball at Bridgewater State, has compiled a 421-43 record at the school in 19 seasons.
Being the best in Massachusetts, however, is only part of the goal at Barnstable. The Red Raiders know that greater challenges lay beyond their state borders. And they aren't shy about taking on those challenges.
Barnstable tuned up for Monday's regular-season season opener by traveling to Connecticut to take on perennial Connecticut state contenders Darien and Bunnell in pre-season matches. On October 6, the team will make a historic first trip to volleyball-rich southern California, where it will face both Brentwood (26-6 a season ago) and Beverly Hills. The latter contest will be a re-match of the 2006 event that had Beverly Hills falling to Barnstable, 3-0, at Marshfield High in Massachusetts.
Then a week following the trip to the Los Angeles area, Barnstable play will New York State Section 2 power Burnt Hills, the 2006 New York Class A runners-up, in one of the feature matches of the three-day Showcase of Champions at the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Mass.
''We try to play a competitive schedule throughout the season just so we can be ready for games in November,'' Turco said. ''We want the kids tested throughout the regular season, so they won't buckle under pressure. We want them to have ice water in their veins when the season is on the line, and they usually do. It's amazing the amount of composure these kids have.''
It didn't start out that way, however. Despite holding a career winning percentage of .910 in 19 seasons at Barnstable, Turco's first year, in 1988, ended at 5-11.
He knew immediately things had to change.
But who knew the change would result in such record-setting, jaw-dropping achievements?
"Two things basically happened,'' Turco recalled of his early days at Barnstable, the Cape Cod town which is home to, among other things, the famed village of Hyannisport.
"One, Dana Howe at Chelmsford High really helped me out. She had just won back-to-back state championships. After going through that frustrating first season, I basically called her up and asked her "how do you do this?" She spent a couple of hours with me, going through everything they did.
"And I asked a former college friend of mine who coached as an assistant at North Quincy and they had won state championships," he added. "And he said you can be successful at the league level without your kids being involved in the Junior Olympics. But if you want to be successful at the state level you have to get your kids involved in Juniors.
So Turco went out and started his own off-season program, the Cape Cod Juniors. That, in turn, led to his players stepping out even further and joining the state's elite regional development programs.
"I think the giant leap was made after the girls made the commitment to go from the local Junior Olympics to the regional Junior Olympic teams," said Turco. "The regional teams travel all over and are more involved. They were pretty much self-motivated to do that. All it took was two or three girls to make the commitment and then they all wanted to do it and improve. Now I don't have to say one word about Junior Olympic Volleyball. It's a given they'll do it."
Another centerpiece to the Barnstable championship puzzle has nothing to do with volleyball. Rather, the program draws on the inspiration, discipline and selflessness imparted by NBA basketball coach Pat Riley in his book entitled The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players.
"We've used it as a textbook since 1996 or 1997; it's our only textbook," Turco said.
"The Seniors first have to do a book report on it during the summer; then they teach the course during the season to the others. I don't teach it anymore. We switched over to the seniors teaching because back in the old church days, you know when you're there and you're not really listening? That was the feeling I was kind of getting when I taught it. That's not the case when the kids teach it. It's just one of those things you stumble upon and it works.
"I don't teach it but I'll sit in," Turco added. "I'll talk about my experiences in coaching over 20 years. The older kids can talk about their experiences as players to the younger ones. They've bought into this big time. Sometimes it might seem like forcing kids to eat broccoli when they don't want to, but I have alumni who come back and tell me they still quote the Riley book. I had a kid who went to the University of Notre Dame and did her senior paper on the book."
The book arguably makes its greatest impact with the lessons of checking egos at the gymnasium door and the importance of a team being bound and united by common goals and aspirations.
"Chapter 2, 'The Disease in Me', about how selfishness can take away from a program and hurt a team, is big, Turco said. "Or 'A Core Covenant', an agreement that binds people together. That's where we get this commitment here. We have our seniors run a meeting; it takes them two hours, they just bang it out. And they come out with a list of goals.their goals. Not mine, theirs.
"Having them write the book report gives you a look into their competitive minds," the coach said.
"The girls are very studious and like to write things down. The things they've written about their competitiveness and their losses.I once had a player, Whitney Davis, write 'one of the best things that ever happened to us was looking over at North Quincy and watching them celebrate in our faces.' She said after that and in keeping that in mind, there isn't any practice too hard. There isn't anything I wouldn't do competitively on the court to avoid that situation again."
Of course, it helps to have great players, something that Turco has been able to cultivate through skill development - starting with his third-grade camps - and by running a model and attractive program. Among the many stars of this season's teams will be a pair of 6-foot-0 middle hitters, senior Kara Cullen and junior Stephanie Bristol, as well as senior setter Amanda Parker.
Barnstable's extraordinary depth makes for highly-competitive practices and serves as valuable insurance against injuries and other potential problems.
The team hit what might have been a major snag in the first round of last year's state tournament, when Turco had to bench three starters for the game, including two seniors, for having been served with late detentions in school.
Turco learned long ago to never institute rules that he couldn't enforce and this was one he firmly believed in. The season was on the line and the three starters sat for the entire match, but Barnstable stilled rolled past Marshfield, 3-0,
"What do you think makes more of an impression in a case like that," Turco asked. "Do you say, 'well, maybe it's ok this time but don't let it happen again? This could be your last volleyball game so we'll let it slide?' Or do you say in front of the entire team, `you're not playing today but you will sit on the bench and clap for everyone and encourage everyone.' To me, there wasn't a choice."
Pressure and resistance from parents in cases like this can often discourage coaches from making difficult decisions. How did the Barnstable parents react in the face of the suspensions?
"I got calls from two of the parents.to say 'thank you','' Turco said. "The third didn't say anything; they understood completely."
Part of the structure and discipline that makes up the Barnstable volleyball program also pertains to practice.
"Our practices, we're extremely prepared," he said. "We go in with scouting reports and video reports on opponents. We've played teams more athletic than us, but there's a certain confidence that they have. There's an environment of positive peer pressure. I was talking to three (former) players here who play in college, and that's what they say is the biggest problem with their teams. They are allowed to criticize and snap at each other. If I see two of our players having negative interaction on the court or in practice or in a game, I sit them out.
"I'm not saying this is a flawless system," he added. "We've had our problems. But they tell us right away. They know what the expected behavior is. They know what to expect from each other."
Most of all, they expect to win, often years on end.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Regional Media Manager for the Northeast. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at jstout@maxpreps.com.
