Barnstable holds off Franklin push
Facing resistance for the first time all season, Barnstable rose to the occasion. Led by Riley James’ 21 kills, Barnstable swept Franklin in straight sets (25-17, 2522, 25-23) in front of a full house at Franklin High last night to move within one win of its 19th state championship in program history.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Red Raiders (23-0) have yet to drop a set this season, running their streak to 69 in a row.
Last season, Barnstable claimed a Div. 1 South title but fell short of its ultimate goal, losing to Newton North in the Div. 1 state semifinals, 3-2. This time around the Red Raiders held off a valiant Franklin effort on the Panthers’ home court.
“We we were really motivated going into this game, playing on their home court,” said James, the alltime state leader in kills. “It was really motivating to get past this moment after where we ended last season.”
Led by four kills from Hailey Sanders, the Panthers grabbed a 22-18 lead in the final set hoping to stave off elimination and curtail Barnstable’s perfect season. A pair of server errors around an Ingrid Murphy kill helped push the Red Raiders in front, 24-23, before James put the finishing touches on Barnstable’s state semifinal win with her final kill of the night.
“Franklin is a very good team and 22-18 is a pretty big deficit to come back from,” Barnstable coach Tom Turco said. “We kept our composure and I am proud of them for that.”
The Red Raiders managed to grab the opening set as after a kill by Maggie Doyle pulled Franklin within 17-14, Barnstable went on a 6-1 run highlighted by three James kills to pull away for the 25-17 victory.
The second set told a similar story with a pair of server errors and an Ellie Wisniewski kill trimming Barnstable’s advantage to 18-17. Two net violations, however, and a Murphy kill extended the lead for the Red Raiders to 22-19 before James finished the set off with consecutive kills.
Before Newton North could fix its eyes on playing for another state title, Lawrence gave the Tigers all they could handle.
The Lancers put forth a valiant effort against the defending state champs, but Newton North rose to the occasion to take down undefeated Lawrence, 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-21, 25-17), at Natick High.
Newton North (16-2) advances to face Barnstable, the fourth meeting between the two sides in the state title match since 2012.
“It’s a tremendous achievement to go to a state final,” Newton North coach Richard Barton said. “There’s just so many complications along the way . ... When a team you’re playing plays like that, you have to play really solid. You can’t make attack errors, serve errors. At some point, you hope that our starting players on the court kick it in.”
Newton North’s height advantage dictated play at first, but Lawrence (21-1) leveled the score behind strong play from Abigail Heredia and Yemayma Molina before the Tigers took a crucial third set.
Ashley Wang (28 kills, five blocks) stepped up with three kills down the stretch before Erin Carey (nine kills) sealed the set with a spike.
Wang then sent tone in the final set to keep Newton North’s title defense alive.
“We really just had to come together as a team,” Wang said, “and give it all we got.”
Division 2
Lynnfield had cruised to a sectional title by winning every set its played in the postseason. But in a Div. 2 state semifinal, Groton-Dun
stable had other plans. Playing in their third straight game with a fifth set, the Crusaders used their size in the middle and strong serves from Peter White to grind past the Pioneers, 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 23- 25, 25-19, 15-10). Twice Groton-Dunstable fell behind by losing the first and third sets, but Lily Blodgett’s 27 kills, Carolyn Mullins’ 16 kills and a raucous Crusaders crowd proved too much for a Lynnfield group that got rattled easily.
“(Mental toughness) absolutely was (the key),” Groton-Dunstable coach Lori Herberich said. “We work on that every single day. … They’re an awesome team, but we knew kind of where we wanted to put the ball.”
The Pioneers looked to have control at the start by taking the first set, 25-19, as the Crusaders committed several errors. But once those errors stopped, the size and strength in the middle carried them the rest of the way despite numerous vicious hits from Lynnfield’s Melissa Morelli.
“Our middles can definitely take control,” Herberich said. Minnechaug and Duxbury aimed to take another step forward toward becoming state champs, having both been eliminated in last year’s state semifinal.
After a hard-fought match, it was Minnechaug (18-3) that punched its ticket to the state title contest for just the second time in program history, with a 3-1 victory over Duxbury (2523, 20-25, 25=22, 25-20).
“We understand that this is a game where you have to take it one serve and one point at a time,” said Minnechaug coach Mark Taylor said. “It was a high intensity match, these girls have all worked so hard and they deserve to be here.”
Senior captain Aleksei Mendrala stepped up huge in the final frame, with six of her 10 kills on the way to a 25-20 win.
Division 3
Bourne advanced to its second state final in as many years, and it got a bit of revenge on the way as the Canalwomen knocked off volleyball juggernaut Frontier, 3-0.
With the win, Bourne snaps a streak of eight consecutive state final appearances by Frontier, who handed the Canalwomen a defeat in the state semifinals a year ago.
“I think we had this on our mind a long way,” Bourne coach Andy Mather said. “Instead of being overwhelmed in the moment, which we were last year, I think we were able to adjust to some things.”
The Canalwomen, led by a group of returners that remember last season’s heartbreak, played with poise, comfort and in complete control. Even if Frontier earned some momentum, Bourne came right back.
The familiarity with Frontier may have played a role in the victory, but really it was a factor of streaky runs coming right when they were needed. While trailing 22-19 in the final set, the Canalwomen nabbed six of the final seven points to clinch the match.
“I think that the more difficult the moment we are more relaxed,” Mather said. “Just knowing that we have to control what we have to do, not so much what they have to do. A lot of the talk wasn’t adjusting to what they were doing, a lot of the talk was focusing on what we needed to do to be successful.”
Seniors Emma Fenton (17 kills) and Kameryn McAnaugh (seven) paced a group of five players with three or more kills while classmate Sara Sullivan dished out 22 assists in the win.
For Austin Prep, the Division 3 state semifinal started out like its previous three postseason matches with the Cougars dropping the first set.
Unlike those contests, Austin Prep never recovered against Whitinsville Christian.
The Crusaders came up aces, using terrific serving to fuel a 3-0 victory (25-9, 25-10, 25-15) at Natick High to advance to their first state final.
“We had a tough time getting it started,” Austin Prep coach Katie Cosgrove said. “They’re a great team. They just came out and really brought it. We couldn’t really get into a rhythm. We couldn’t really get it going. It was a little bit of nerves. We’ve never come this far . ... They had unbelievable serves.”
Whitinsville Christian (24-1) put the pressure on Austin Prep (20-4) with a double-digit first-set win behind terrific serving along with stellar play from Christina Leduc (nine kills).
The Cougars scored the first three points of the second set, including getting a kill from Natalia Guerra before the Crusaders charged ahead with a 16-2 run.
In the third set, Hope Brookhouse (six aces) and Emily Schneider propelled the Crusaders to a sweep with stellar serving once again.
“We love to play efficient volleyball and serving and aces is the way we do it,” Whitinsville Christian coach Kelly Penning said. “(We were) really focused on pushing those serving runs.”