Gateway volleyball adjusting to new lineup, classification in early-season matches

By: Michael Love
Sunday, April 13, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Gateway boys volleyball team has been adjusting to both a move up to Class 3A and a new lineup dynamic with the loss of a majority of last year’s squad to graduation.

But Gators coach Phil Randolph likes what he sees from his players in the early part of the season, including their fight in three Section 4 matches.

Gateway swept both North Hills and Penn Hills to begin this month before tasting defeat for the first time in 3-1 setback last Tuesday against Central Catholic.

“It’s not what we expected, and that’s not a slight on Central Catholic at all,” Randolph said.

“We had been performing at a pretty high level.”

The Gators played the match without junior outside hitter Daniel Bozicevic because of illness.

“We switched Tokyo (junior outside hitter Toktobek Kubanychbekov) into that outside spot, and he is a really capable hitter,” Randolph said.

“Any time it is a relatively new rotation, there can be some hesitancy. And (senior hitter) Darious (Farrar) wasn’t at his normal level for that first set. He was just kind of getting warmed up and moving the way we expect.”

Gateway lost the first set 25-16 but rebounded in Game 2 for a 25-20 win.

“It was a nice comeback win for the guys who really settled into their games,” Randolph said.

But the momentum built was short-lived as Central Catholic took Game 3, 25-21, and Game 4, 25-23, to close out a 3-1 win.

Farrar finished the match with a team-best 17 kills, while Kubanychbekov added 12.

“We just had too many mental mistakes in the third and fourth sets,” Randolph said.

“When you are playing a team which is that competitive, well-conditioned and scrappy, you can’t afford to make mistakes like missed serves and tips that become generous balls right in the middle. You can’t go tip for tip with them because they will come back with a big swing. They had our number more times than we had theirs.”

But Randolph said his players are looking forward to the rematch with Central Catholic on May 1.

In the meantime, Gateway hopes to make some more noise in the section against Fox Chapel and Plum and the rematches with North Hills and Penn Hills.

Farrar, a co-captain with senior defensive specialist Owen Echegaray and senior setter Tommy Nikou, said the team has worked hard to become a cohesive unit.

“We’ve seen so much growth in all parts of our game,” Farrar said.

“We’re all in this together, and we do what we can to pick each other up. We’re all uplifting and positive toward each other. It had to be that way as we faced the challenges of losing 14 seniors to graduation and having so many new players in varsity games. It comes down to us having that trust in each other.”

Gateway kicked off the season at the Norwin tournament March 22, and Randolph said he saw some good things from his team which built itself up from scrimmages against Hempfield, Shaler and Ambridge.

“It was a lot of good competition there, guys who we were happy to see again,” Randolph said.

Gateway drew Hempfield first in tournament play.

“We handled them pretty well when we scrimmaged them, but they came back (in the tournament) and kind of caught us off guard,” Randolph said. “That was our first miss-step in that tournament. After that, it was all uphill.”

Gateway faced Butler, ranked third in Class 3A at the time, in the quarterfinals and scored a one-game upset victory.

The Gators rematched with Hempfield in the semifinals and dropped a close 25-23 game to the Spartans.

“It was definitely a heartbreaking loss,” Randolph said.

“But it was a great tournament overall for the boys. They were working hard all day. They showed that they can run with and beat a team like Butler if they are playing their best ball. Obviously, we wanted to win the game against Hempfield, but when you see guys playing so well together and rallying together like that, it was time well spent. The team really showed a lot about themselves that day and it helped build into their season.”

Gateway then added a pair of 3-0 nonsection wins over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and McKeesport.

Randolph said he saw more growth in the team at the Upper St. Clair tournament April 5.

The Gators played the first series of games without Farrar, a main offensive weapon at the net, while he was at a morning audition for what he hopes is acceptance into a performing arts school.

“He missed our first three sets, and that had an impact as we started out 0-3,” Randolph said.

“When Darious came back in regular pool play, we won the next five in a row. That took us into the playoffs as the third seed in our bracket.”

Gateway beat Upper St. Clair in the first playoff round before falling to Butler in the second round.

“They had our number this time,” Randolph said.

“Hopefully, we see them again, maybe at the Armstrong tournament (April 26), and see who comes out on top.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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