Winning note

Meshech Osbourne spent his freshman season on the CAPA boys’ volleyball team keeping the bench warm.

But he wasn’t so hot about the game.

"My freshman year, I wasn’t too interested in the sport, but I knew a lot of people around me were having fun getting to the championship," the player said. "I knew that’s what I had to do."

The CAPA Pegasus won the Public League championship in 2001 — Osbourne’s freshman season. Adding to the excitement was that the title was the first ever for an athletic program at the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

Osbourne couldn’t help but get swept up in volleyball fever.

Three years later, he became the squad’s leader as the athletes doggedly pursued a second title.

After losing in the semifinals his sophomore year and going down to Masterman in the championship last year, Osbourne would not be denied.

Last Thursday, the 18-year-old middle hitter pumped up his teammates as they headed into the final game of a best-of-five title match against Central.

"Keep your heads up, this is our game," Osbourne urged the teammates huddled around him on the Community College of Philadelphia court. "We are not losing this game."

It was close until the end, with CAPA leading 14-13. Reminding his teammates that just one point would decide it all, Osbourne held up his index finger.

Sophomore outside hitter Nelson Miranda tallied the winning kill and, with that, the team leader had his long-awaited championship moment. Osbourne ripped off his number-10 T-shirt and, within seconds, CAPA students joined him and his teammates in a celebratory dance on the court.

After watching that first championship victory from the bench, Osbourne, of Southwest Philly, couldn’t be happier about his final act at CAPA.

"It’s the greatest feeling in the world," he said.

The title contest was filled with drama, but what else could be expected from the performing-arts school?

CAPA was within two points of hoisting the trophy in the fourth game, but the Central Lancers scored six unanswered points, setting up a suspenseful finish.

Coach Rick Shields summed up the scenario in one word — "nervous."

But Osbourne, a vocal major, is used to high-pressure performances. The student has made four appearances at the Kimmel Center, and sings in the R&B; group Capacity with classmates Gilbert Morrow, Ryan Williams, Kevin Sturgis and Nyemah Wisseh. Williams, a native of Chicago, is also a member of the volleyball team.

Last Thursday, Osbourne wanted to deliver the greatest performance of his high-school career. When he noticed the defeated looks on his teammates’ faces, he figured he had to stage a revival.

"Their energy feeds off mine," said the player, who earned Second Team All-Public honors last season. "I felt I had to control them and get them back in rhythm, and we got the job done."

They did indeed. Even before the title win, CAPA was celebrating the sweet semifinal defeat of 2003 champion Masterman, which delivered the same fate to the Pegasus in 2002.

"This year, we made it our job to beat Masterman," said Osbourne. "We beat them both times we played them."

But Central was no afterthought. The squad had dealt CAPA its only regular-season loss.

Even going into the contest, Rick Shields, the Review‘s 2003 Coach of the Year, believed it could have gone either way.

"Obviously, they’ve been trying to repeat, and after last year’s big disappointment, they didn’t want to let it happen again," the coach said. "But seriously, it could’ve happened today. We were fortunate to win."

Osbourne seemed to sense that, too, as he shed a few happy tears and kissed the championship trophy that he had coveted for three years.

The student now can plan for even more moments in the spotlight. He will major in theater arts at West Chester University this fall, and he and his bandmates will spend the summer doing promotional work in hopes of getting a record deal.

Osbourne will continue playing volleyball with West Chester’s highly competitive intramural club while striving for musical fame. So far, though, no singing gig has equaled the thrill of winning a championship.

"It is something I wanted to do for four years," Osbourne said. "I always felt like school was a chore, but volleyball was my sanctuary."