VOORHEESVILLE — As freshmen, they wanted to represent their school in the sport they love.

When they were freshmen, their school had dropped volleyball from the sports landscape. That did not stop Austin, Ian, and Adrian Michalski.

The Michalski triplets — with the help of Coach Tom Kurkjian — recruited a bunch of classmates and, in a brief period of time, turned volleyball into the best team in the school.

The Blackbirds won their second consecutive Section II Class C/D championship with a three-set win over Chatham at Hudson High School on Friday. Voorheesville won the first set, 25-15, squeaked out a 25-23, win in the second, and pounded away in the third, 25-6.

Last year, the Blackbirds beat Coxsackie-Athens in three sets and then won the regional tournament by beating Living Word Academy of the Section III (Syracuse area). The Birds will again play for a regional title. This year, they will travel to Westmoreland High School in Section III to challenge that section’s champion.
"This one was a little more exciting," said Ian Michalski, after Friday’s game. "They played us hard."
"There definitely was pressure to defend our title," Austin Michalski added.
"Every team is out to get us," Adrian Michalski said.

The Blackbirds thwarted all challengers during the season as they not only went unbeaten during league play but they also did not lose a game, winning each match in three sets.
"It was a little iffy if we would win in three games," said Kurkjian, who is the coach of the team. "We went 12-0 this year and we didn’t lose a single game. I don’t know if that has been done before."

From close to crushed

Chatham posed a challenge in the second game as they battled back from a 14-8 deficit and eventually tied the set.

The Panthers tied the game, 19-19, after a serve by Will Moon was returned into the net.

The team traded points but Voorheesville held a 23-21 lead.

A kill by Adam Rugen brought Chatham within one point and got the serve back. But the ensuing serve went into the net and Voorheesville was one point away from winning the game.

The Voorheesville serve went out of bounds and the score was 24-23. On the Chatham serve, the Birds played the ball well and Adrian Michalski put an end to the game with a hard-hit spike for the kill.

The Blackbirds celebrated while the Chatham players looked dejected as they left the court to prepare for the final set.

The Birds dominated the final game from the outset and used nine consecutive service points by Mason Junco to close out the match.

Kevin Goss scored the championship point for the Blackbirds with a kill; the Birds celebrated on their side of the net.
"We knew we were in control of the match," Adrian Michalski said.
"We didn’t adjust to their tipping," Ian Michalski said of Chatham’s style of offense. "They were giving us a game. It was tight and crazy."
"We made some errors," Austin Michalski added. "But, for the most part, we played pretty clean."

The close call in the second game fired up the Blackbirds to win the match in the next game.
"It made us want to win the next game so bad," Ian Michalski said.

"Always together"

Ten seniors celebrated their second consecutive sectional championship.
"We couldn’t do this without the rest of the guys," Austin Michalski said. "They are a big part of the team."

Tom Cavanaugh was the Blackbirds’ third big hitter besides Austin and Adrian Michalski. Matt Belgiovine was a good at the libero position, a back-row defensive player.

John McNally, Junco, and Josh O’Brien made some major contributions to the team as did Goss and Austin Saddlemire.

Also on the team is junior Garrett Simpson, sophomore Michael Thamsen, freshman Nathan Bub, and eighth-grader Garrett Wineinger.

The seniors are mostly a core group that formed as freshmen to resurrect the program that had been cut by the school.

Some of the seniors were recruited a couple of years later.
"Tom [Cavanaugh] has played for two years," Kurkjian said.
"I love this group," Ian Michalski said. "We’ve been together since our freshmen year. We got some kids interested and they said ‘Why not"’ They all turned out to be good players."
"All the guys in this grade are close," Adrian Michalski added. "We are always together and we always practice hard."
"We came into a season a few years ago and it was only the three Michalskis and a couple of other kids," Kurkjian said. "We played a half-season. We weren’t that great but they all came back the next year. Everybody that played returned and decided they wanted to play to win. We won the Central Hudson Valley League that year but lost to Maple Hill.
"This team has had a good run," Kurkjian said. "We were one game away from beating Maple Hill when these guys were ninth- or 10th-graders."

Smart kids

But it’s the Michalskis who have been the anchor of the team for the past four years. They were the force that formed the team and they used their talents to lead the Birds to two sectional titles and the first regional title for a team from Section II.

Their talents will also take them to the collegiate level. Though they haven’t decided on which schools they will attend, they said that they will go to different schools and they will play volleyball, whether at the Divison I, II, or III level.
"We want to play in college," Adrian Michalski said. "A lot of Division III teams play against Division I teams. We’ll either play with Division I players or against them."
"These are interesting kids," Kurkjian said of his players. "They are very smart kids. The Michalskis have a 96 average and Matt Belgiovine got a 1,600 on his SAT’s, he said referring to a perfect score. They do a lot of stuff. A lot of them are in band and two of the three Michalskis sing in chorus. A lot of the kids are also in the Model U.N."

Kurkjian coached volleyball for 19 years before taking a leave from the sport. He coaches boys’ and girls’ tennis at Voorheesville and decided, after discussing it with his wife, to help form a new volleyball team at the school.
"It is a nice feeling to coach guys," he said, "and watch them do well."