Volleyball notebook: Milford’s Gus Da Silva makes teammates laugh, opponents cringe

During much of the last three sets if you closed your eyes for a moment you could almost forget you were in Lexington Against an upper-tier Minutemen group riding a -game win streak at the end of April the Milford boys volleyball squad transformed the small gym into a home away from home The junior varsity squad s booming cheers from the bleachers ignited the bench who echoed every holler in a regular season matchup with a state quarterfinal feel And on the court super-charged junior outside hitter Gus Da Silva traded hits with Lexington s Ale Luciani in a five-set thriller Milford lost by just two points Lexington ranks at No in the latest Div power rankings with the state tournament almost a week away It s drawn praise as the leading candidate to break up the Bay State Conference s grip on the Final Four The Scarlet Hawks with Da Silva as their only returning starter from a trip to the state semifinals last year rank No That encounter really exhibited us how good we are defensively and how good we can be Da Silva noted The hype-ness especially from our JV crew and freshman group if it wasn t for them I think we would ve struggled a lot They really boosted us as a crew and our power just skyrocketed I think that s what really pushed us that encounter It was a good battle It felt like a home challenge I can t lie Milford has a history of tenacity in numbers wearing hearts on sleeves and producing a storm of power that s hard for opponents to bottle up Last year s senior-laden group led by stars Alex Guerra and Arthur Gomes revealed a strong team-wide friendship at the heart of it every day with Da Silva a heritage the junior focuses on maintaining this year To Scarlet Hawks head coach Andrew Mainini that s Da Silva s superpower outside of his talents as one of the state s better outside hitters And when Milford competes with Lexington or beats a Cambridge ranked No in five sets or leads sets against Div and Div powerhouses Newton North and Agawam that unity shines bright I think off of the court he is someone that the entire gang likes and he makes them laugh and he brings the organization together socially Mainini stated The way he interacts with his teammates is really positive and that has really brought the company a pretty inexperienced organization that was very new to each other he has really brought the band together And when we play defense we often look like a well-oiled machine with a lot of chemistry And I think that is partially because Gus has kind of united everyone as friends I want to be like a gang that has a lot of chemistry and enjoys playing with each other no hatred Da Silva added You know that s my focus We re inevitably hanging out We re invariably eating lunch together After practices or games we re reliably like together you know bonding as a association So that s our primary goal is just being together When we re at our low we stay together and when we re achieving everyone s supporting each other There s a lot to Da Silva s encounter that makes him a athlete to watch Newton North and Lexington struggled at times to disrupt his hitting which Mainini says comes from a dynamic swing that produces at the toughest of angles The gang is strong with its serve-receive of which Da Silva is one of its best at He s been a standout passer When demanded of those contributions when Milford is at its best Da Silva points to the band But when the Scarlet Hawks struggle which has come in waves in an - record the junior feels responsible for it I have to take like the blame for it Da Silva mentioned Everyone looks up to me so I have to be a great role model to everyone And sometimes I don t do that But I m trying to keep myself at a very high standard for the the greater part part Milford which has high expectations for what it can do in the state tournament despite its ranking has shown more positives than negatives Milford High s Gus Da Silva a junior works on his competition during practice this week He s one of the state s best outside hitters Libby O Neill Boston Herald An upset loss to Taunton to share the new Hockomock League title with it was something Mainini felt Da Silva took pretty harshly A - loss to Acton-Boxboro earlier in the week was frustrating too But in the first two sets Milford was seemingly full control Against Newton North which eventually lost top outside hitter Simon Vardeh to injury late in the third set Milford led or competed well into at least the middle of all four sets in a - loss Agawam is Div s leading title favorite and Milford led in sets against it as well The five-set win over Cambridge was a match Da Silva especially thrived in I think when we play our best Mainini announced it s because Da Silva is you know bringing the unit together and pushing them forward Consistency is the key and Da Silva has worked hard on his leadership to limit the low moments Da Silva admits the pressure he feels with jumping from a role performer last year to a central leader this year a pressure that s been both enjoyable and tough But he s taking it in stride and is focused on guiding the Scarlet Hawks as they look to improve their close-outs to sets We re really playing well until that closing moment in the losses he revealed We just need to sense a little bit of blood and athletes close the meeting every time Really it s just working harder every day Passion for the sport comes almost naturally for Da Silva who dropped other sports to focus on volleyball and work as a barber He plays for Smash volleyball in the offseason and has made friendships and improved there too Volleyball means a lot to me Da Silva noted It s like my safe space in a way It brings me closer to my friends It s like really calming and it s just peaceful you know Milford High s Gus Da Silva a junior boys volleyball star is driven to be the best teammate he can be Libby O Neill Boston Herald With those friends he s looking forward to making a few noise in the state tournament The whole crew bolstered by junior Diego Inacio-Santos sophomore Sam Abreu and a well-balanced defense is too We re ready and we re excited to potentially be the underdog who gets a couple upsets in the tournament Mainini disclosed We know that we are more talented than a seed