Eastie rallies to win crown
It took a full five sets, but East Boston won its first Boston City League championship last night.
The Jets took down Latin Academy, 3-2, thanks to a strong effort in the fourth and fifth sets at Burke High School.
“It means everything (to us),” East Boston coach Vanessa Bigby said. “It is the first time East Boston has gone undefeated, and it just means so much to me.”
East Boston junior Cilianna Taveras dominated with her serve in the fifth set as she had four of her six aces in a 9-0 run to make it a 10-1 advantage. Latin Academy managed to battle back to cut the lead to 12-9, but the Jets then put it away.
“(Taveras) has been a superstar all season,” Bigby said. “She has been my ace in the hole all season. So she came out and wanted it so bad. She came out and did it. She’s the superstar, and she’s the MVP.”
Taveras won Most Outstanding Player as she dominated with her serve as well as notching eight kills, the highest total for either team.
With Latin Academy up 2-1 in sets, East Boston (180) had to dig down deep after not losing a single set in the two meetings between the teams in the regular season. Thanks to 20 unforced errors by the Dragons, the Jets won the fourth set 25-18.
Latin Academy (12-7) dominated in the first and third sets as East Boston had 14 unforced errors in losing those games 25-21 and 26-16, respectively. The Jets took the second, 25-10, as Nicole Oliveira led a 14-0 run with six aces to put her team up 17-3, helping to tie the match at 1-1.
“My girls wanted it bad,” Bigby said. “They were just hungry, and that means everything to me.”