Mount, N.S. in playoffs
Local schools split in postseason volleyball action
WOONSOCKET — Even though the No. 4 Mount St. Charles volleyball team took the second game of Thursday night’s Division I quarterfinal against No. 5 South Kingstown, Mount coach Josh D’Abate felt a little uneasy because the Rebels made a late run in the game.
That uneasy feeling continued into the third game where the Rebels finally started unlocking the Mount defense by turning to the outside hitter tandem of senior Olivia Turcotte and Jacqueline Lindstrom.
Turcotte had 11 kills and a match-high eight aces, while Lindstrom delivered a matchhigh 17 kills and four aces to help the Rebels secure an 1825, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-11 victory over the Mounties to advance to next week’s semifi- nals.
“We had that big lead in the middle of Game 2, 19-11, and I just sort of felt like the momentum changed in that game and we stopped playing,” D’Abate said. “The next thing you know the game is 25-21. You have to give credit to South Kingstown because they kept working through everything and we just couldn’t find a rhythm.”
“Honestly, this team is a family to me and while this isn’t the outcome that we wanted or hoped for, but I would never take any of these moments back,” Mount senior middle Paige Fitzpatrick said. “We fought and we fought. We were so excited for this game and we played with so much excitement and energy. We played so well to start, but we didn’t keep it going.”
Mount St. Charles senior middle hitter Haley McCreight was the driving force behind the two-game lead, as she produced a team-high 15 kills. Fitzpatrick delivered 12 kills and one block, while senior outside hitter Riley Mulligan added eight kills and four digs.
The Rebels, who dropped a five-game decision to the Mounties to close out the regular season, trailed 5-3 in the fifth game after a McCreight kill. The lead see-sawed in favor of the Mounties after a Mulligan ace made it 10-8, but then the visitors scored seven of the match’s final eight points to reach the semifinals for the first time since losing to eventual state champion Coventry in 2013.
“I just kept hoping the kids would find themselves before the match was over,” South Kingstown coach Jackie Elmer said. “They did and this is what happened. I think the kids were a little tight to start the match and they were doing things that were uncharacteristic for everyone.”
South Kingstown now heads to East Greenwich Thursday night to take on a familiar opponent in the semifinals. The Rebels will play undefeated North Kingstown for the third time after the Skippers survived a five-game tussle with No. 8 East Providence Thursday night.
The Rebels took the Skippers to five games early in the season before dropping a four-game decision on Oct. 16. Elmer believes the Rebels can win the match, but they can’t make 18 service errors like they did in Woonsocket.
“I know we can beat them, but we can’t make errors,” Elmer said. “When we played them at home, they won the first two games and then we won the second two games. Our other advantage is now we’ve seen them.”
Since moving up to Division I in 2010, this is just the second time the Mounties missed out on the Division I semifinals. Through the first two games, the Mounties appeared well on their way to East Greenwich behind the play of Fitzpatrick, Mulligan and McCreight.
Mount trailed the opening game 8-4, but then went on a 21-10 run to take the match lead. The Mounties continued to play well in the second game, jumping out to a 10-2 lead. The Mounties used kills from Fitzpatrick and Mulligan to lead 19-11 before SK closed the gap to just three.
Even though they lost the second game, the Rebels started playing better and that meant getting the ball outside to Turcotte and Lindstrom. The dynamic duo helped the Rebels go on an 11-4 run in the middle of the third game to cut the deficit in half.
“We didn’t have an answer for them and when we played them last week, they dominated the match,” D’Abate said. “Part of our problem is our height and we couldn’t get into a rhythm. When you’re forcing everything defensively, it’s really hard to get anything going offensively.”
The visitors led by as many as four points late in the fourth game before Mount surged back to within one point at 23-22, but a setter dump on the penultimate point helped the visitors even the match before securing the road victory in five games.