Broncos get best of Lincoln
Burrillville sweeps winless Lions in Div. II matchup
BURRILLVILLE — The scores of all three games were similar, but the manner in which the Burrillville girls volleyball team won each game Tuesday night against visiting Lincoln was quite different.
The Broncos, led by talented senior captains Katelyn Paine and Kara Cournoyer, went on a big run in the opening game, controlled the entire middle game and then overcame a big early deficit in the final game to take a big step toward the Division II playoffs.
Paine had 19 kills, four aces and 17 digs, while younger sister, and the team’s setter, junior Kourtney Paine dished out 42 assists to lead the Broncos to a 25-18,. 2518, 25-19 victory over the Lions at the Broncodome.
“When the other team is really up – and their bench was really loud and calling out everything – that just makes us work so much harder,” Katelyn Paine said. “We’re going in the right direction and a big thing is that we’re a really close team. If someone’s down we can pull her back up and that really makes us a tough team.”
“I really think our moving and communication was good in this match,” Cournoyer said. “The big thing for us in every match is our confidence because we get too down on ourselves when we make a mistake, we need to stay positive and moving forward. This team definitely has a lot of potential.”
Lincoln (0-5) received solid performances from senior setter Hailey Gagnon, senior outside hitter Aliana Winn and freshman outside hitter Casey Weaver, but far too often in the 70-minute match, the Lions handed the Broncos cheap points that made it easier for the home side to walk away with the victory.
Lincoln returns home Wednesday night to face North Smithfield in a battle of snake-bitten Blackstone Valley teams still in search of their first league victory.
“A lot of the errors we have been making in all of these matches are just little things on our side of the net,” Lincoln coach Lyndsey Sweeney said. “I thought our energy was much better than last week and we looked more like how we should, but a lot of our mistakes are from this side of the net. We just can’t get out of our own way. Serving is a huge problem for us because we’re giving away far too many points on service errors.”
Burrillville (3-2 Division II) only have four more matches before the start of the playoffs starting with Saturday’s visit to Chariho at 7 o’clock. The Broncos, whose only losses are to West Warwick in four games and Johnston in five games, are finally starting to click in a season where coach Heather Farrell is attempting to mix in a few new pieces with some talented returners.
The younger Paine is making big strides at setter, but it helps when you have hitters like Paine, Cournoyer, McCreight and junior middle Molly Brown.
“We’re really working together and working hard because we’re getting ready for the playoffs,” Farrell said. “We’re started trying a few new plays, including one that’s called swimming. We just need to continue to talk because once they said something on the court, they played their game.”
The Broncos trailed by a point midway through the first game, but then the home side went on a 10-2 run thanks to a few kills from Paine and some unnecessary errors by the visitors. Paine and Cournoyer powered Burrillville to a dominant victory in the second game. The captains reeled off three straight kills to put the home side up 13-7.
Lincoln managed to get as close as 20-17, but the Broncos secured a few sideouts to record the win. Lincoln, however, responded by scoring seven of the third game’s first 10 points to take a fourpoint lead. Alas, the Lions’ inability to serve and Burrillville’s solid defense led the home side to another comfortable victory.