Seward Park was waiting patiently for its PSAL second-round playoff game last spring when the Bears turned into cheerleaders. No. 18 Bayside was on the verge of shocking powerhouse and second-seeded Walton and the players from No. 7 Seward Park had visions of the semifinals dancing in their heads.
“That was the toughest team in our half of the bracket,” middle hitter Kai Chen said of Walton. “Obviously our first reaction was to be very excited.”
The No. 7 Bears celebrated almost as much as Bayside did when the Commodores shocked Walton. But the Wildcats weren’t the only team to get upset that day. Seward Park was knocked off in the very next match by No. 23 Port Richmond. That long playoff run was gone in the blink of an eye.
“We were so happy and forgot everything,” opposite hitter Shawn Chen said. “To be honest, we felt too good about ourselves. We were on the court like, we’re gonna win.”
Seward’s swagger is back in 2011, but it’s a little more subdued. This is a veteran group with eight seniors and many third- and fourth-year players. Longtime coach Sonia Colon calls it one of her best teams since she guided the Bears to a PSAL city title in 1993.
The difference between this year and last, she says, is experience in school volleyball and on the outside. Colon has always drilled into her players’ heads that playing volleyball away from Seward Park is important, but few teams have taken heed her advice. This one has, playing at camps and in tournaments.
“They’ve been doing other [volleyball] stuff besides just me,” Colon said. “Most of the teams, like [three-time defending champion] Cardozo, MSIT, they play all year long. I’ve been trying to push that on them.”
Other than that, Seward has the talent to be successful. The Bears won the Queens HS of Teaching tournament early in the season and fell to McKee/Staten Island Tech at Tottenville last weekend. Senior Glenn Vargas packs a punch hitting and also sets, while Kai Chen is a sturdy middle. Brian Hu is also a strong setter in Colon’s 6-2 rotation and Liang Zhang is an able libero.
“I think we have the tools to make it happen,” Kai Chen said. “We have good middles, we definitely have good setters, we have some good hitters. We have players at all positions. I think that we’re pretty well-rounded.”
Colon said that most of her teams get better as the season goes on and in the beginning she always tells people she has nothing. Not this year, though. This group, she says, has already jelled – perhaps the earliest since the 1993 championship team.
“They just need to continue working,” Colon said. “I just don’t want them to get complacent.”
Much of their success will be dependent on mental things, not physical ones. Seward already has plenty of confidence.
“We want the city championship,” Kai Chen said. “That’s our goal. I don’t think we’re going to settle for anything less than that.”
The Bears are also determined not to let the events of last year happen to them again, even if that means cutting back on the swagger.
“We have what it takes to get far,” Kai Chen said. “Whether we make it or not, is entirely up to us.”
And not another team getting upset.
