RHAM nets another Class M crown by Rich Zalusky

Tessa Smolinski had dreams about it on Friday night.
Dreams about how her final high school girls volleyball match at RHAM High would play out with the opportunity to close out her career with three consecutive CIAC Class M state championships.
“I just felt my heart pounding,” Smolinski said. “It was like we have to win and what a great way to end things. And I didn’t want to be crying afterwards when it was over.”
Those dreams came true.
Smolinski (13 kills, 12 digs) earned most valuable player honors for the second straight year as No. 1 state-ranked RHAM (25-0) completed its second consecutive undefeated season with its third straight Class M title, a 25-11, 25-22, 26-24 victory over 11th-seeded Joel Barlow (21-5) at Berlin High School.
The victory extended the state’s longest winning streak to 53 straight matches dating back to a loss in the 2007 Northwest Conference final against Farmington.
And for the Sachems to finish things off in a sweep, they had to rally from a 24-20 deficit in Game 3.
“It hasn’t even hit me yet,” RHAM senior libero Mallory Grosso said after the Sachems received their championship medals. “It feels like we just won a game. It hasn’t felt like we’ve won three straight state championships.
“That’s just ridiculous.”
RHAM had rallied from a 7-1 deficit in Game 3 and caught the Falcons at 10-10 before opening up a 20-15 lead on an ace by Chelsea Fenton.
It was about that time when the RHAM student section summoned the Sachem fans opposite the team benches to stand up as well in anticipation of wrapping things up.
Joel Barlow had other ideas.
First, senior Emma Cheal blocked Smolinski to force a side-out.
Eight points later, all on the serve of Maria Kokenos during a run that featured two aces and two blocks from Emily D’Alessandro, Joel Barlow was on the doorstep of forcing a fourth game with a 24-20 lead..
Trailing by four points during practice is nothing for the Sachems.
Coach Tim Guernsey uses that scenario frequently in practice, putting his first team down 24-20 on the scoreboard and making them find ways to put together 4-, 5- or 6-point runs.
Smolinski even remembered a time when they ended up pulling out one of those scenarios, 36-34.
Doing the same thing with the pressure of a state championship on the line is another thing entirely.
“Coach told us, ‘This is what we do in practice.. We can do it. We know we can,’ “ Grosso said. “I was very nervous. I didn’t know if we were going to actually make a comeback especially knowing that just one mistake on us would give them the game.”
RHAM immediately forced an error, putting senior Kelsey Brault on serve, down 24-21.
Smolinski followed with a kill, forcing a Barlow time-out.
The time-out didn’t stop the momentum.
Jocelyn Taylor won the next point for RHAM on her 11th block of the match and, when Ellie Linden (30 assists) set up Smolinski on the right side for a booming kill between two players, the Sachems had tied things up at 24-all.
RHAM moved to match point when Barlow hit a kill attempt out, setting the stage for Smolinski, who punctuated her MVP performance with her final kill off another set by Linden that landed perfectly on the sideline.
And once the RHAM bench and the crowd realized the referee signaled the ball in, the celebration could commence.
“The kids don’t give in or get nervous,” Guernsey said. “They have the same mentality every time and know that they’re good enough to come back no matter what the score is. They do it all the time in practice and it’s exactly what they did today.
“Not that you want that to happen, but on the biggest of stages they made things exciting and more memorable.”
It was Taylor, standing 6-1 in the middle, who presented an ominous presence that put RHAM in commanding position in Game 1.
Taylor had two kills and two blocks in a 9-point serving run from Brault as the Sachems built a 19-5 lead.
And with senior Kelsey Welling also making life difficult for Joel Barlow, her blocking prowess along with four kills down the stretch closed out things at 25-11.
“Whether people want to admit it or not, the first line of defense is the block,” Guernsey said. “It changes what hitters want to do on the other side of the net. Both Jocelyn and Kelsey, on the biggest of stages, really stepped up. They did a phenomenal job.”
The Sachems led by as many as four points early in Game 2, 11-7, but then Barlow caught them at 15-all in what became a see-saw affair.
Later, the Sachems crept ahead 22-19 before the Falcons made them squirm by winning the next three points to tie things up at 22-all.
Barlow had a chance to take the lead on the next point, but a set attempt hit the antenna on the side of the net.
What hurt even more were three consecutive service errors after forcing side-outs on balls that sailed long without RHAM having to make a play.
“You can’t do that, especially against a talented team like RHAM,” Barlow coach Steve Antal said. “You can’t give them three points in a row and get none. That hurt us in Game 2.”
Now, a third banner will hang in the RHAM gymnasium.
And for the senior group of Grosso, Smolinski, Linden, Brault, Fenton, Welling and Alie Carlson, what a way it was to finish off their high school careers.
“What people will remember when they see this year’s championship banner is our senior group,” Guernsey said. “Last year, with a junior-laden team, the 2008 banner reminds you of our one senior, Kelly Stratton. That was special for her. Now, our seniors have one of their own, even though they had a lot to do with all our accomplishments last year.”
“You can’t do what we’ve accomplished without having talented players. They work hard in the offseason, in the winter and summer. All the credit goes to them for their dedication. They knew what they had to do in order to get ready to play.”
For Grosso, she couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“This is the way you want to go out,” Grosso said. “Having an undefeated season and winning another championship. It was like the perfect ending.”