The first item on the Wayland boys volleyball team’s agenda, after taking the entire week off during April vacation, wasn’t exactly volleyball-related.

Players didn’t run drills to shake off any rust. Head coach Phil George and his staff didn’t discuss X’s and O’s.

Instead, the Warriors transformed from volleyball team to book club with a 30-minute discussion on the first third of Daniel Coyle’s “The Culture Code” — which puts the little details of a successful group under a microscope.

A large returning roster from last year’s run to the Div. 2 state final has high hopes of finally locking down the program’s first state title. But at 6-5 entering that Monday’s practice, albeit against Div. 2’s toughest strength of schedule, the loaded Warriors have looked inconsistent.

On one hand, Wayland handed Lexington (12-1) its only loss, controlled play twice against Acton-Boxboro (ranked No. 8 in the latest Div. 1 power rankings), and took Div. 1 and Div. 2 powerhouses Newton North and Agawam to five-set losses.

On the other, it’s dropped five-setters to up-and-down groups in St. John’s Prep and St. John’s of Shrewsbury — the latter of which came right before April vacation.

“We’ve kind of been a bit of a rollercoaster this year,” said junior captain Finn Bell, one of the state’s best players averaging over 20 kills per match. “Reading that book was kind of a step to understand why. We want to be steady. We want to (have) steady output all the time. The look in the mirror kind of gives everyone insight to why that happens.”

Inside Wayland’s fieldhouse are 29 state championship banners. The volleyball team was as close as it gets last year to finally raising its own banner, but Westfield rallied from a 2-0 match deficit in the Div. 2 state final to eventually take the fifth set, 15-13, in a stunning finish.

The hungry Warriors feel they have what it takes to go the distance this time, which is part of what fires Bell up after wins over Westford Academy and Newton South this week lifted them to 8-5.

“When I look at (the record), it ticks me off a little,” he said. “Let’s go win the next 10 games in a row and suddenly we look like a state championship team.”

Yet, George isn’t worried about the five losses because they — hopefully — feed right into the coaching philosophy he’s used over the years. The 10 different combinations the Warriors have played around with this year are all geared toward optimizing potential come playoffs, while also focusing on improving individuals to the best they can be.

George says sophomore Mason Lee, a 5-foot-9 standout at libero, played eight games so far this year at outside hitter because “he’s a growing person with great ball control, and it could be good for him down the line.” Sophomore Jake Pearlman, a 6-foot-7 middle hitter just returning from an injury that kept him off the court for the first 11 games, will play with the style that could help him play in college instead of the shortcuts that would give a short-term boost.

“I want the singular achievement of winning a state title, but I want to build successful volleyball players,” George said. “From a player perspective, we could take some shortcuts. … I focus on building high-quality players, and I think those players thrive in state championship-like games. And I hope that pays off.”

That line of thinking is also what feeds into the confidence the team has from playing a juggernaut of a schedule, which has already given the Warriors six five-set matchups they’re using as building blocks.

“The way I talk to our team about it — playing weaker teams is like looking in a funhouse mirror,” George said. “It distorts your strengths and it obscures your weaknesses. We want a mirror that’s telling us the truth. … It helps us become better players.”

“Having a lot of five-setters, it might kill our power ranking a little,” Bell added. “But on the other side, it puts you in high-pressure moments all the time. … As you get to the state final, and you’re in the fourth set of the state final, all of a sudden, you’ve played 10 five-setters throughout the season and you’re used to the pressure. The pressure doesn’t get to you. In practice, you can’t re-create that environment.”

For Bell and George, the “look in the mirror” conversations and the constant search for improvement adds to a group they feel is better than last year’s. A roster deeper than the program’s ever had under George is a part of that, but experience and firepower especially stands out.

Bell is at the forefront as one of the state’s most dynamic players. He’s a threat for 30-plus kills while hitting efficiently any given night, often showing he’s a force few can slow down on the attack while standing as Wayland’s best serve-receiver and an exceptional server.

Lee, No. 2 outside hitter/libero Liam Frenzel and Bell lead a serve-receive that George believes is the group’s top weapon as a team. Returning middle hitter Dylan Engelhardt has moments of dominance as well, pairing with Bell — and potentially Pearlman — to anchor a blocking ability that’s impressed George so far. Zach O’Donnell has settled in nicely as the primary setter after some experimentation with a 6-2 earlier in the year, and Cooper Szeremeta provides key hitting depth along with Max Walsh.

“Everybody just has a super solid base,” Bell said. “There’s nobody inexperienced on the court. It makes it so weird situations are easier, which is a big difference from last year.”

Bell, who feels even more of a responsibility as a leader this year, nearly led Wayland to the mountaintop last year.

Westfield and Agawam are mighty roadblocks in the way of that again, but he and the Warriors are determined to find what it takes in the end to overcome both this time around.

Taunton turnaround

Taunton picked a great time to beat rival Milford for the first time since 2018.

By sweeping the Scarlet Hawks on Tuesday, the Tigers split the season series with Milford in the first year of the brand-new Hockomock League. And with wins in every other league match, Taunton claimed at least a share of the title — a fitting result for the two long-standing programs in the four-team league.

“I think it is definitely an accomplishment and something we put in as one of our team goals this year,” said head coach Toby Chaperon. “The win was very important, especially against a strong program like Milford. … This experience was definitely something our team needed to prove to ourselves that we can play with good teams.”

After a 2-7 start to last season and to 2022, and a 6-3 start to 2023, Taunton’s 10-1 mark so far is its best since a 16-1 season led to a trip to the Div. 1 South semifinal in 2021.

“We took our lumps the past year but are returning the entire starting lineup,” Chaperon said. “I think this group knows we have potential but also realize we have a long way to go to compete with the upper echelon teams in the state. But I know they are looking forward to that challenge as we work our way into the state tournament.”