Lions bounced in four by E. Greenwich

Lincoln wins opening set; Avengers advance to quarters by winning last 3

EAST GREENWICH – In their second year under head coach Jane Fish, the Lincoln Lions boys volleyball team made the playoffs for the first time since 2009, and though 2016 was a short postseason run, Lincoln had a good showing early and pushed East Greenwich to four games, and made them play hard and alert to win.

Fifth- seeded Lincoln came out ready for a playoff match and won the first game 25- 14 before the fourth- seeded Avengers came back to take the next three 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 to win the Division II prelimi- nary-round contest.

“We were going point-forpoint for a while,” Fish said. “The difference in the first game is we didn’t allow them to get any runs.

“Our first game we came out really hot, and the score represented it. Our consistency is what we work on and that was what happened in the second game. We have new players on the floor; we’re building every time we get on the court.”

Senior outside hitter Matt Albanese had two kills, two digs and five blocks. Junior captain Aidan Enright had nine kills and three digs from the outside hitter position.

Sophomore Charles Fish had 11 digs, three assists and one kill. Sophomore setter Daniel Hasegawa had 12 assists. Senior setter Chann Chhem had six kills.

EG has a height advantage, shuffling in sophomore Thomas Shaughnessy and junior Tim Sanzi. Sophomore Matt Plympton played well at setter, setting up senior captain outside hitters Matt Oh and Jeremy BernardSasges.

“Lincoln hasn’t been in the playoffs in years,” Fish said. “I’m happy with how they played, they fought for every point. If we were a little more consistent we would have prevailed.”

Lincoln last made the postseason in 2009, when they went 10-6. That was also their last winning record. As the fourth-seed that year, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals to the eventual state runners-up.

“We knew East Greenwich was a good team,” Fish said. We hadn’t played them. We knew they had a lot of nice hitters on the team and good defense. We were just coming in to look more towards ourselves and play our best match. I’m disappointed with the loss, but I’m not disappointed with how they played.”

With Fish at the helm and only two seniors departing, Lincoln can hopefully add some depth and continue to improve in the coming seasons.

Photos by Jerry Silberman / risportsphoto.com The No. 5 Lincoln volleyball team saw its season come to an end Wednesday night with a 14-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 defeat to No. 4 East Greenwich in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

Photos by Jerry Silberman / risportsphoto.com Lincoln coach Jane Fish (grey shirt) talks to her team during Wednesday night’s Division II firstround loss to East Greenwich. It was Lincoln’s first playoff appearance since 2009.