Seniors have Hingham boys volleyball program on a new course

Matt Cummings, Noel Ruccio, Joe Andrews, and Liam Warshaw were trailblazers for the Harbormen volleyball program

• Hingham High School’s boys volleyball team, established four years ago, celebrates its second varsity season.
• The team honored seniors Kyle Ruccio, Liam Warshaw, Matt Cummings, and Joe Andrews on Senior Night.
• The seniors have been key to the program’s development and growth.

Four years ago, a group of athletes began a road they hoped would lead to a varsity boys volleyball program at Hingham High School.

After two years competing as an intramural program, that dream came true last year with the first varsity season for the Harbormen netters. They picked up five wins last season and are one victory away from getting to that mark again this year with three matches left to play this week.

Kyle Ruccio, Liam Warshaw, Matt Cummings, and Joe Andrews were recognized for their commitment to the cause on Senior Night before Wednesday’s home game with Scituate High. They left the gym happy after a three-set 25-10, 25-15, 28-26 victory over the Sailors.

Head coach Shawn Nugent praised his senior’s impact with the fledgling program on the court as well as in the locker room. They are the foundation of what he thinks will be more success on the near horizon.

“All four of the seniors have been players, as well as people, that you want to have in your program. They’ve been instrumental in getting this program off the ground,” said Nugent. “Noel and Matt have been with me since the very beginning and have been so important to the development of the program. They both started for me as freshmen. Joe joined us as a sophomore and I finally talked Liam into playing starting his junior year.”

If Nugent ever needed a recruiting video for bringing in new players to the program, Ruccio, Warshaw, Cummings, and Andrews should all be among his very first phone calls. The four seniors shared some memories of their time with the team.

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Andrews – “To help build this from the ground up has been awesome. I wasn’t around for the first season, but I’ve really enjoyed the last three years playing with this team. We have an eighth grader on the team with us this year and I’d love to see volleyball grow at the middle school level so there are more players involved when they get to high school.”

Ruccio – “We are a close team so I’m sad to see my senior season coming to an end. I’m hoping to end the season on a good note.”

Warshaw – “I hopped on the bandwagon last year and playing on this team has been an awesome experience. I’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of sports and I probably love playing volleyball the most if I had to rank them. I just like killing the ball.”

Cummings – “I had no experience at all with volleyball before coming out for the team as a scared freshman. It’s been great to see myself, as well as the volleyball program, grow over the last four years. From someone who knew absolutely nothing about the sport to where I am now, it’s been a great experience. I’d love to see the program continue to grow in the next few years.”

Nugent is excited by the future of the volleyball program. He has a specific goal in mind for the direction of the team.

Said Nugent, “We have a very robust girls volleyball program here at Hingham High and one of my goals is to see the boys program get to that same level of success.”

Hingham finishes the final week of the season at home against North Quincy (Monday) and then Milton (Thursday) before closing things out Friday at New Bedford.

Contact the reporter at dwolcott@wickedlocal and you can follow him on X @DavidWolcott1.