After three years of just barely missing the mark, Jimmy Oliveira, head coach of the Coastal Region volleyball team, and his assistant coach Ryan Grace oversaw the win of their first gold at the Bay State Games over the July 13 weekend.

The Bay State Games are organized by the Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation and are held every summer and winter, with thousands competing.

Oliveira and Grace, who coach at Old Rochester Regional High School, and players on their Coastal team had two practices to get themselves in working shape for this year’s games.

Oliveira highlighted the progress the team has made over the past few years but said it was the team they won with that “just made it so enjoyable.”

Despite the limited practice time, the players were able to quickly find their rhythm and compete as a team, he said.

“The win was awesome to represent our area, but it's also really cool just to see friendships and whatnot just kind of happen,” Oliveira added.

Among the players on the Coastal team is Molly Franco, who is going into her sophomore year at Old Rochester.

Oliveira said at the Bay State Games, Franco “really shined in the back row [and] played awesome defense.”

He added how proud he was of Franco and the rest of the team. “They work really hard and they just love the sport of volleyball.”

“Every kid on this team was just very unselfish — they had a team first mindset — and it makes our job as coaches just that much easier,” Oliveira said. “It makes it really enjoyable when you can get a team to all buy into that kind of philosophy. It's not an easy thing to ask of a high school student, but they showed maturity and I'm really proud of them for that.”