Saxon Fuller was always taller than most of his peers. By his freshman year at Harford Tech, he topped 6 feet and was still growing.
But his athleticism and coordination lagged behind. That was until a conversation with a friend from middle school, who now plays basketball at Loyola Blakefield, opened his eyes to training methods that could make him a star athlete.
Fuller also never played volleyball until high school — his dad half-heartedly suggested the sport to the still-growing Fuller, so he gave it a shot. Three years later, he’s the area’s top player.
Fuller stood 6-foot-5 this season. Coupled with a 33-inch vertical leap and a wingspan that stretches 7 feet, he had a mountainous advantage over his competition in a season that culminated in an undefeated campaign and county championship for Harford Tech, and for Fuller, The Aegis’ boys volleyball Player of the Year.
“A lot of the teams in the county don’t have those that are capable of even touching the balls at the height that I’m hitting,” Fuller said. “And if they do, they’re not quite experienced enough to know how to form their block. So I do have a big advantage there. But being able to jump high and be tall is nothing if you can’t swing hard and know where to put the ball.”
Fuller began plyometrics as a sophomore, exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals to increase overall strength. For Fuller, that meant 1-foot jumps, weighted jumps and other methods to increase his vertical leap. He spent three days per week training plyometrics and two lifting weights. They combined to increase his vertical by 11 inches in just one year.
That gave the Harford Tech outside hitter skills that few opposing teams had the capability to stop. Fuller could spike shots from heights other teams couldn’t reach — he could hit down on the ball with force rather than just scraping it over the net. In boys volleyball, which favors power while the girls’ counterpart leans into finesse, Harford Tech coach Gary Clement said, Fuller’s abilities are a massive advantage.
“There’s nobody we saw this year who could jump as high,” Clement said.
It all came together in Fuller’s junior season, in which he led Harford County in kills and led Harford Tech to the county championship game against a heavily favored Bel Air squad.
The Cobras came up just short. Emotion took over the seniors who’d just played their last games.
“That was one of the worst nights ever,” Fuller said.
A conversation a few days later provided plenty of motivation. Fuller, then a junior, and one of the seniors, reflected on the defeat and the finality of it all.
“He was just talking about how he was sad that that was his experience for his last high school game,” Fuller said. “That hit me hard. I didn’t want the same thing happening to me.”
Fuller never lost a match again. The Cobras rarely even lost a set last season — they were taken to five sets just once and won in three sets eight times. They topped North Harford 25-21, 25-14, 25-14 in the county championship led by a dominant effort from Fuller.
The senior also took on more of a leadership role this season, often keeping the group focused in practice toward their ultimate goal.
“They’re boys, so they have the attention span of a gnat,” Clement said. “Getting them on track sometimes is a challenge. Saxon would be the person getting them back on track, because he wanted to practice things and he wanted to do more things during practice rather than just screw around.”
With expectations comes pressure, and no boys volleyball team knew that better this season than Harford Tech. Fuller admitted he felt it knowing that his team was expected to win every game it played. But a more pressing desire kept any pressure from becoming too heavy.
“The thought of losing another game was more predominant than the pressure on me at the time,” Fuller said.
All-Aegis first team
Mason Crouch, C. Milton Wright, junior, middle blocker
Crouch anchored the Mustangs with 51 kills, 23 blocks, 48 digs and 26 aces.
Jordan Bogarty, North Harford, junior, hitter
Bogarty posted 139 kills and 14 blocks for a Hawks team that was county champion Harford Tech’s top challenger this season.
Brody Hichkad, C. Milton Wright, junior, hitter
Hichkad’s monster season included a team-leading 179 kills, 115 digs, 48 aces and 19 assists and forms a formidable returning duo for C. Milton Wright next season.
Jacob Jestel, North Harford, senior, hitter
Jestel paired with Bogarty and posted 87 kills and 150 digs.
Connor Lumbard, Harford Tech, senior, defensive specialist
Lumbard’s 146 serve-receives and 90.8% serves in play rate was critical for the county champion Cobras.
Sam Thomas, Harford Tech, senior, libero
Along with Lumbard, Thomas’ 86.1% serves in play percentage and 128 receives overall — along with 32 aces — helped make Harford Tech nearly impenetrable.
Second team
Julian Datesman, C. Milton Wright, senior, hitter
Mike DeJesus, North Harford, senior, libero
Philip Kozlowski, Harford Tech, sophomore, setter
Aiden Mackowiack, Patterson Mill, senior, hitter
Nikko Sohn, John Carroll, senior, hitter
Kishann Smith, Joppatowne, junior, hitter
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