27016207
Going undefeated in the regular season is considered a great accomplishment, but the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts boys’ volleyball team had been there and done that.
These players wanted the one thing that would make the season complete — a Public League championship.
Second-place Masterman, whose only regular-season blemish was a loss to CAPA, had the same idea. And last Thursday, in front of a packed house at Community College of Philadelphia, the Center City school pulled off the 3-1 victory for its second straight Public League title.
The agony of defeat came as a surprise to the home team.
"We were pretty confident that we could beat them," CAPA coach Rick Shields said. "We didn’t pass well enough for that to happen."
Senior Omar Malcolm was one of many CAPA players who couldn’t hold back the tears.
"It didn’t really hit me that we lost until I saw Masterman celebrating," Malcolm lamented. "I took it harder than I thought."
The Pegasus players had no lack of opportunity. They lost the first game 22-25, but managed to make a quick recovery and win the second match 25-15. With the score tied, Masterman won the last two games 22-25 and 23-25.
"One point here and one point there would’ve made the difference in any of those games," Shields said. "You can’t take anything away from Masterman."
CAPA senior Ronald Gordon was hoping to finish his high-school career on a championship note. But it was one of those days where things didn’t go as planned.
"It should’ve been ours, we should’ve beat them," Gordon said. "We were strong the whole season and thought we were the team to beat. We just didn’t play like it [at the end].
"We were probably a little overconfident," he added.
CAPA, a school better known for the arts than athletics, has made giant strides since joining the Public League during the 1998 season, when it missed the playoffs with a 5-10 record.
The Pegasus displayed its biggest growth spurt during the 2000 season, when the team finished the regular season with a 13-0 record — and made school history by becoming the first athletic squad to advance to a championship, before losing 3-1 to Masterman.
The players fulfilled their championship dreams a year later by defeating Central, and kept their postseason streak intact last year by advancing to the Public League semifinals before losing once again to Masterman. CAPA had to compete without star player Malcolm, who was sidelined with a broken thumb.
Junior Meshech "Shaq" Osbourne said playing for the 2001 championship team was a teaching aid; it showed the players what they needed to do to win. All the pieces seemed to be snapping together this season for the undefeated squad, who also beat Masterman twice in preseason exhibition games. When the playoffs came around, the Pegasus appeared unstoppable with wins over Kensington and Central.
Did success spoil the players? Osbourne, who was a member of the 2001 championship team, said he entered the final contest focused on the task at hand, and didn’t get caught up in the previous wins.
"As a team, we really wanted this game, and we really played our hearts out," the junior said. "Things just didn’t fall into place."
Nonetheless, the senior players are leaving CAPA with great volleyball memories. Few high-school athletes in any sport can say they played in three Public League championships.
Other players will move on to higher sporting pursuits. Malcolm has been offered an athletic scholarship to the University of Findlay in Ohio, but plans to remain a loyal alumnus.
"I am proud of being part of the CAPA volleyball team," the senior said. "I hope we continue to be successful for years to come."
Once the pain dulls from another hurtful championship loss to rival Masterman, the South Philly squad surely will get back on the ball and try, try again. Shields’ challenge will be to replace several key seniors in Malcolm, Gordon, Karuna Mam and Eric Jordan. Malcolm will leave the most difficult void to fill.
"He is the best player in my opinion to ever play in this league," Shields said.
If all the underclassmen return, the coach will have a solid foundation for the 2004 season. It will include Osbourne, who is ready to lead as team captain.
"We have to work hard and come to every practice to win this championship next season," Osbourne said. "Losing Omar is going to be pretty hard, knowing that we are going to be losing such a valuable teammate. If we all step our games up, we will be just as good."
Public League Boys’ volleyball standings
CAPA 13-0
Masterman 12-1
Fels 10-3
Central 10-3
Parkway 10-3
Olney 8-5
Frankford 6-7
Kensington 6-7
Furness 5-8
Lincoln 4-9
FLC 3-10
Southern 2-10
Northeast 1-12
Washington 1-12
