RHAM is too tough for Southington in CCC volleyball final
By RYAN PIPKE, The Bristol Press
MANCHESTER — RHAM coach Tim Guernsey said after the CCC championship match that he believed Southington was good enough to win a state title in Class LL. That much seemed self-apparent to many in the crowd. (link)
What also was clear was that the Sachems were simply better than Southington, but it did not stop the Blue Knights from battling them to the end in one of the most exciting volleyball matches of the year.
When RHAM (21-0) reeled off the first 10 points of the match and won the first game in 13 minutes, it looked like everybody would be going home quickly. But Southington (19-2) regrouped and became the first team this season to take a game off the Sachems, eventually falling in four games (25-7, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22).
Southington celebrated its win in the third game as if it had won the match. Even though RHAM went on to eke out the final stanza, Southington had achieved its goal.
“I’m very proud of what we did because our goal coming in here was to be competitive,” Southington coach Rich Heitz said. It took some adjusting, but they did just that.
The problem was that the Knights had never had to deal with quite so potent hitters as Tessa Smolinski, Alie Carlson and Kesley Welling.
“The hitting and the athleticism of Tessa Smolinski and stuff, and the jump serving,” Heitz mentioned. “… We can’t simulate this in practice or a scrimmage and stuff like that and that’s why it was so important for us to get to this final game and hopefully put up a good fight.”
Neither coach knew what to expect after the opening frame. While Southington played better after falling behind 10-0, the Knights still never mounted a rally.
“After Game 1 I thought it was going to be a landslide, but we knew going into Game 2 that they were good enough to win the next three,” Guernsey said. “They made some adjustments. They kept swinging, kept swinging. It’s a great win. I think both teams played phenomenal.”
The Knights seemed to relax a bit as well and gained a small bit of confidence by winning the first point of Game 2 when Mallory Grosso’s serve went into the net. From there the match was back-and-forth the whole time.
“[It was] pride, knowing they could play better,” Heitz said. “There are times during the season when you play some teams that you don’t have to have that intensity on every single point, and I think they realized that in the second game. The big thing in the timeout was focus and effort, focus on the effort and not the outcome.”
The second game was tied as late as 23-23 and neither team ever built more than a two-point lead. But kills by Chelsea Fenton and Smolinski were the edge RHAM needed at the end.
Game 3 went much the same way, but there were several times it seemed like the Sachems would close out the match in a sweep. When Southington fell behind 16-13, Katie Byrnes stepped up with an important kill, one of a team-high 15 in the match. That sparked a mini rally as Southington took a 20-19 lead on a block by Lauren Bauchiero.
“She struggled putting some down early,” Heitz said of Byrnes. “She had to learn what defense they’re playing, what their defense was giving us. She was taking advantage of that late.”
Bauchiero, Byrnes and Lexie Broytman all had kills in the closing points as Southington gave RHAM its first taste of losing all season, having won all 62 games played this season up to that point.
The Knights celebration on the court was exaggerated considering it was one game and they still trailed. But it spoke volumes about both RHAM’s ability and what it meant for somebody to take a game from the Sachems.
It did not, however, dampen RHAM’s spirits. The team came out of the chute with a 5-1 lead in Game 4. Welling had a kill, a block and another powerful hit on three consecutive points on that run.
Again it was Byrnes that sparked Southington’s comeback with back-to-back kills in front of Rachel Volpe’s ace to make it 5-4.
The Knights evened the score at seven apiece and another tight battle was on until the end. Southington also got a big boost from Natasha Carlbert, who had five of her 10 kills in that game.
In the end, RHAM had a little more firepower and a Southington error ended the game.
“I have seven seniors,” Guernsey said. “We won a state title [last year] with a group of juniors that went undefeated. These girls demanded pretty much everything from themselves. They are a phenomenal group. We have good chemistry.”
Byrnes added 10 digs to her 15 kills while Bauchiero had nine kills, four blocks and 10 digs. Broytman has eight kills and 10 assists, Volpe had 31 assists and Elsie Bernaiche led the defense with 13 digs.
Southington will play on Thursday in the second round of the state tournament following a bye.