North Providence and Barrington supplied the drama in the penultimate week of the regular season.
The Cougars rallied for a five-set victory against the Division III favorites, Mt. Hope, on Wednesday. And Barrington handed La Salle its first in-state loss of the season in a sweep on Thursday. Those two programs are now the front runners in their divisions as we eye the playoffs.
Preliminary games begin on Tuesday, May 26 with the tournaments starting in earnest on the following Thursday. Championships, as of right now, are slated for Saturday, June 6 at Rhode Island College.
Now, let’s get into this week’s ballot!
Who won last week’s ballot?
Exeter-West Greenwich’s Zoltan Libertini ran away with last week’s ballow with 69.5% of the votes. EWG is in the thick of the title race in D-III and Libertini continued that trend with a big week.
Congrats to everyone that was on the ballot last week!
What does the Longplex Athlete of the Week receive?
Winners will be announced in the following Athlete of the Week poll. But the ballot is really for bragging rights and for the volleyball community to rally around its athletes.
Everyone that made the ballot did something spectacular and deserved recognition. Winning just provides a bit more limelight to an individual performance that could help a team play for real hardware in June.
How does a player get nominated?
Have a day on the court. Shine with your play and show why you warranted recognition for an outstanding week of volleyball.
But that’s only the first part. Coaches have been asked to submit results to the Providence Journal before 10 p.m. on the day of the game. That part is crucial – we can’t do this alone and rely on the coaches. Coaches, please send results to pjsports@providencejournal.com and we can take it from there.
Voting closes on Friday at 11:59 p.m. Voting must be done via the ballot below — email submissions will not be accepted. Now it is time for this week’s nominees!
Karl Desir, Hope
Desir had two standout matches for Hope last week. Starting on Wednesday in a 3-2 win vs. Toll Gate, the senior had a dozen kills, 10 digs and four blocks. He then added another 11 kills in a 3-1 defeat of Mount Pleasant on Friday.
Cameron Gates, East Greenwich
East Greenwich made quick work of Chariho on Thursday in a 3-1 win at home. Gatesled the Avengers with 22 kills and two aces for the Avengers’ eighth win of the season.
Nicholas Goncalves, Central Falls
Central Falls was in a nail-biter on Monday against Westerly. The Bulldogs tied the match at 2-all after losing the opening sets, but Goncalves didn’t let the game slip away. The senior finished with nine kills, five digs and three blocks in the 25-21, 29-27, 14-25, 19-25, 15-13 victory.
Caden Hicks, North Providence
Hicks and North Providence came to play against the D-III defending champion Mt. Hope Huskies. The senior put on a show with 14 kills, five blocks and four assists as the Cougars rallied for a 16-25, 25-18, 13-25, 25-22, 15-11 triumph. North Providence trailed by four points at the start of the fifth set before Hicks sparked the rally.
Logan Lane, Barrington
Barrington had its best win of the season on Thursday as it handed La Salle its first in-state loss of the spring. Lane, in the 26-24, 26-24, 25-22 triumph, engineered the Eagles’ offense with 36 assists and a dozen digs.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Vote for the Providence Journal Boys Volleyball Player of the Week