Bryant’s Troy Gaugler is now the third Gaugler brother to win a boys volleyball city title. (Erin Edwards)
Troy Gaugler can go home again.
The Bryant senior, whose two brothers both won PSAL city titles at Cardozo, finally has one of his own.
The dynamic outside hitter helped lead top-seeded Bryant to a 25-19, 25-22 win over No. 2 Academy of American Studies in the PSAL boys volleyball championship game Thursday night at Hunter College. A Gaugler brother has now won a title in each of the last four seasons.
“Now he can go home and hold up his head,” said Owls coach Steve Hagenlocher, who guided his team to a championship for the second time in seven seasons.
Gaugler, who had 10 kills and a pair of big aces, couldn’t have done it without his middles. Senior Mirsad Bektesevic had eight kills, including two of Bryant’s final three points in the decisive second set. First-year senior Asmir Cirikovic had four kills, three of them coming in huge spots. He gave Bryant (16-0) leads of 19-18, 21-18 and 22-21 with kills in the second.
“They abused the blocks,” Gaugler said.
Academy of American Studies (13-2), which is undersized at the net, had a hard time defending both Gaugler and the middles. Bektesevic dropped tips over blockers and in front of the back row time and time again and Cirikovic followed suit.
“They were triple-blocking me,” Bektesevic said. “They didn’t think I would tip.”
When his final attack dropped, the Bryant players chased down Gaugler and basically laid down a beating. There was never any doubting that he was the team’s best player all season – he joked that he feels 100 pounds lighter from carrying the Owls – but he was also arguably the squad’s most popular player.
“He’s a really good kid,” Hagenlocher said. “He’s probably one of the best players, it not the best player, in the city, but he doesn’t talk that way.”
When Bektesevic was asked afterward if they wanted to win partly for Gaugler to keep his family tradition alive, Gaugler interjected.
“It’s a title for him, too,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t think he cares about me.”
Gaugler’s older brother, Todd, won two titles with Cardozo in 2008 and 2009 and Tyler, the youngest, won last year with the Judges. Gaugler, who heard the Academy of American Studies fans booing him, said his brothers probably weren’t happy to see him win.
“They were probably with the boos,” Gaugler joked. “We’re all competitive at home. We all get along, but we all want the other one to do as horrible as they can.”
Hagenlocher exploited opposing teams’ weaknesses during the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, John F. Kennedy shut down his middles, but Gaugler went off for 29 kills. Against Brooklyn Tech in the semifinals, it was pick your poison, much like it was Thursday.
‘Their two middles were very strong today,” American Studies coach Josh Yang said. “Coach knows, he’s experienced. He knows that my middles are not as big and that’s a weak point of my team. He took advantage of it. I can’t say enough about Coach Hagenlocher.”
Gaugler’s father, Larry, always joked with his son that he wouldn’t be allowed home if he was the only child without a title. But Troy is free to return to his Elmurst abode – with bragging rights.
“I have the most recent title,” he said, “so I’m the king.”