Despite Loss in Tourney, a Record-Setting Year for RHS Boys Volleyball Team
Although the Revere High boys volleyball team came out on the short-end of a 3-1 decision at Brookline High in a hard-fought match in the opening round of the MIAA Division 1 state volleyball tournament last week, coach Lianne Mimmo and her Patriots achieved some notable firsts in the history of the three-year boys volleyball program.
Revere, which was ranked 22nd in the D-1 Power Rankings (up from 24th spot last year), completed a perfect 14-0 record in the Greater Boston League (GBL) to capture an undisputed 2023 league championship for the program’s first-ever GBL title.
Senior Christyan Berger (who recently was featured in an article in the Boston Globe that highlighted Christyan’s journey to the volleyball court and his leadership skills) was named the GBL’s Most Valuable Player and was joined on the GBL all-star team by teammates Ruben Rodriguez, Alexander Serrano Taborda, and Brian Novoa.
In addition, for the second straight year, Mimmo was named the GBL Coach of the Year.
As for the match itself, the Patriots, who dropped an early-season decision to Brookline (who entered the tourney as the 11th seed in D-1), displayed much improvement from that first meeting, winning Revere’s first-ever set in tourney competition and coming close to forcing a fifth and deciding set.
“When we met Brookline at the beginning of the season, it was the first varsity game ever for many of our freshmen, including starters Sami Welsh and Isaac Portillo,” said Mimmo. “They have grown quite a bit throughout the season, as evidenced by our stronger play in the rematch.
“Although we lost, we did get our first-ever set win in the tournament and the fourth set was very close,” Mimmo continued. “We were actually up 20-16 in the fourth set with hopes of forcing a fifth set, but unfortunately, we made a few mistakes and we dropped that set, 25-23, to end our season.”
Serrano-Taborda paced the Revere attack with 12 kills, with Novoa accounting for seven kills and Ruben Rodriguez hitting six kills. Lucas Jimenez contributed three kills and Welsh and Berger added two kills apiece.
Berger set 23 assists for his teammates and made 13 digs. Rodriguez had a team-high 15 digs, with Serrano-Taborda and Portillo contributing 11 digs apiece.
“It was a great run and learning experience for our young team,” Mimmo added. “We are graduating only three seniors, setter Christyan Berger, middle hitter Brian Novoa, and outside hitter Alexander Serrano Taborda, though they were a very important part of our success this season.”
