Canton claims first state championship
WORCESTER — Just get the ball to Taylor Harris.
That was the lone thought going through Canton head coach Pat Cawley’s mind when her Bulldogs were just one point away from clinching Saturday’s Div. 2 state final against Danvers at Worcester State University.
Jackie Morrissey delivered. She got the ball to Canton’s senior captain.
Harris followed through, slamming the ball over the net and into the ground with a championship-winning kill as the Bulldogs (22-3) conquered the Div. 2 state final with a thrilling 3-2 (25-22, 2025, 25-23, 16-25, 15-13) victory.
“I believed in these girls,” Cawley said. “They have a chemistry that is incomparable. They really care about each other.”
Canton’s chemistry shined after losing the fourth set when the Falcons tied the match at 2-all.
The Bulldogs found a new vengeance in the fifth set. Harris recorded three kills to put Canton ahead, 4-2. After a Carly Goodhue kill gave Danvers their last lead at 10-9, Liz Bickett and Claire Quinn collected two kills during a 4-1 run for a 13-11 lead. Maddie Montanari scored Danvers’ last point of the season to get the Falcons within one before Harris’ winning-kill.
Harris finished with a monstrous 29-kill, four-ace performance after leading Canton in its state semifinal win over Minnechaug with 24 kills and 14 digs.
“We went back into the huddle and said that it’s a new game,” Harris said on the Bulldogs’ confidence after dropping the fourth set. “We believed in ourselves.”
Danvers (25-1) had 11-6 and 15-10 leads in the third set. Liz Bickett and Shannon Malloy, though, scored the set’s last three points to win it, 25-23, for a Canton 2-1 advantage.
Needham 3, Winchester 1 — The Division 1 state volleyball championship has been dominated by Barnstable and Newton North for the past nine years — they are the only two teams to win the state title since 2010.
Now, there is a new sheriff in town.
Needham edged Winchester 3-1 (25-22; 23-25; 2523; 25-16) at Worcester State University to capture the Rockets’ first Division 1 state championship.
Lila Carr (14 kills), Olu Ajayi (12 kills), and Karen Nie (19) starred up front for the Central-West Division champions as they finished the season 21-0. Things were not always so rosy for the Rockets but head coach Courtney Chaloff, in her sixth season, completed the true 180 with the program for an undefeated state championship banner season.
Frontier 3, Rockland 2 — Even staring at an 8-2 deficit in the fifth set, Rockland wasn’t about to let Frontier run away.
Freshman Sydney Scanlon served the final two points as Frontier edged Rockland, 15-13, in the decisive set to win 3-2 at Worcester State and claim its 10th state title and its second in three seasons.
“I thought Rockland played really well,” said Frontier coach Sean MacDonald. “They definitely played really good defense. We were lucky to have that 8-2 lead at the switch and we needed all that as a buffer.”
After losing the first set 25-11, Frontier (15-8) earned 25-23 victories in the second and third sets to go in front 2-1. Rockland earned a much-needed 2514 win in the fourth set thanks to a 9-0 run with the set tied 13-13 to even up the match 2-2.
In the fifth set, the Red Hawks built the 8-2 lead thanks to two straight aces for junior Olivia Deane. The Bulldogs rallied to go up 10-9 on an 8-1 run before the teams were knotted 13-13 with Frontier serving. Deane came up with a huge kill after a Scanlon ace to win it for Frontier.