By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Norwood’s Sebastian Eugene was flipping through the TV channels one afternoon when he happened to stop upon a volleyball game. It piqued his interest as he sat watching and told his friends that it looked fun. They continually encouraged him to try out for the high school team, until he eventually found himself on the court. 

“It looked like a lot of fun and found myself watching the varsity team during my freshman year,” Eugene said. “I finally gave in to my friends and tried out for the team my sophomore year. It was weird as I was not even sure what was happening around me and was thinking to myself, I am really bad at this.”

Although he was unsure of his ability to play the game at the time, he was sure that if he could make the team, with his offensive skills, he would eventually pick up the basic fundamentals of the sport. 

Eugene was named to the varsity team, and while happy and proud for the promotion, he would find himself sitting on the sidelines learning about the game for the first half of the season. 

“Sitting on the bench, I was watching to see what my teammates were doing and how I could work it into my game,” Eugene said. “When I got the opportunity to play middle hitter it was very cool, but the game was really fast.”

For the remainder of the season, Eugene found his way into the rotation, and although he felt that his first year with the sport went ok, he accepted he had to improve.

 “I knew that my defense was weak and I needed to improve it, but I had no time during the off-season to work on it,” Eugene said. “I was so busy with school, choirs, and voice lessons, and I didn’t have any extra time to work on my volleyball skills. I didn’t get the opportunity to pick up a volleyball until the beginning of the next season.”

Once he got to practice, Eugene would put everything that he had into the sport, focusing on his passing skills and working on his defense while playing middle and some outside hitter for the Mustangs. Eugene found that he really enjoyed playing the outside hitter position as he got to compete in full rotations and able to also serve.

The more he played, the better he became and the younger teammates were starting to look up to him. He kept them focused on the tasks at hand while staying positive.

Prior to his final year with Norwood, Eugene joined a club team to get into volleyball shape before the start of the high school season. By playing for Southern Alliance, it was a much smoother transition into the Mustang roster and by the time the season arrived, he was ready and charged.

He credits one of the team’s liberos (defensive specialist) in helping to improve his court skills and positioning when the opposition was making certain shots. 

Coach Paul Nimblett noticed the senior’s commitment in the off-season.

“This year he really came out strong,” Nimblett said. “In our first game of the season which went five sets, he had 18 kills, 4 blocks and 5 aces. Now through our first 6 games, he is averaging 10 kills a game. He has really taken off this year and his off-season work had shown his dedication.”

Over his three seasons playing for the Norwood coach, the Eugene has seen his progress continue to grow, especially after playing with a club team. Nimblett noted that when Eugene came out for the team his first year he had never played the sport before, but has gotten better though the years. 

“He has grown to become a great asset to our program,” Nimblett said. “Not only is he a great leader on the court to our younger players, but he has also come into his own as a player and wants the ball sent his way in certain situations. He has a killer instinct and puts the ball away when it’s needed.”

As he entered his final campaign with the Mustangs, he wanted to bring a positive mindset to the team at all times. Although he is not a captain on the squad, the team seems to look up to the senior.

“Volleyball is a mindset,” Eugene said. “If I’m down, then the rest of the team is down; we need to stay positive and have fun.”

Eugene is bringing his confidence to the court for one last season and is hoping that Norwood can make a final push to get into the state tournament before he heads to Northeastern University to study Computer Science. He is hoping he will still be involved with choir, but it looks as though volleyball has reached the end of the road.

“I don’t know what my work load is going to be like,” Eugene said. “Volleyball is still a distant possibility, but it is not on my radar at the current time.”