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Volleyball
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ECC Div. I
After East Lyme had given the Woodstock Academy volleyball team a battle on the Centaurs home floor in the first match of the season, it was assumed that it was going to come down to the wire Oct. 18 at East Lyme.
That part of the equation did not pan out.
The Centaurs took control in the first set and dealt the Vikings a 3-0 defeat on their home floor.
The victory gave Woodstock Academy sole possession of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I regular season title.
“Huge,” Woodstock Academy coach Adam Bottone said with a laugh about the win. “(The title) is what they were cheering about after the game. It’s the first time in program history (to be in sole possession of a divisional title, the Centaurs shared a Division II title with Killingly last year). It sets us up well for the States and I think it gives us the No. 1 seed in the ECC tournament.”
The Centaurs finished with a 6-0 record in ECC Division I.
It was also their 16th consecutive win this season.
Even Bottone was more than a little surprised with the dominance the Centaurs displayed in the match.
“I was honestly a little shocked, it was better than I expected,” Bottone said. “Our word for the year is ‘fire’ and we came out on fire in that first set.”
Senior Natalie Low (12 kills, 14 digs) got the Centaurs going early.
She had a pair of kills in the opening minutes of the first set when the Centaurs bolted to a 7-1 lead.
“She set the tone right away, hitting the ball down the line,” Bottone said.
It was a lead that held through the remainder of the first set as the Vikings never got closer than the six-point differential.
Junior outside hitter Paula Hernandez was key to that as she delivered five of her 23 kills in the opening set.
“We’ve been practicing for a game like this for a long time and we’ve been working on our defense, setting and blocking. I feel like this is our reward,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez was dominant throughout the match which the Centaurs went on to win by taking the second set, 25-18, and the third, 25-22.
In addition to the kills, Hernandez delivered 14 digs, eight service points and an ace.
“She’s a smart player. She understands the game, sees the positioning on the other side, and also sees what her teammates are doing and where they are. It’s unparalleled by anything I’ve seen before,” Bottone said.
If there has been a part of the game that the Centaurs could have used improvement on through their first 15 wins, it was their blocking.
That aspect of the game was much improved against the Vikings (14-2, 4-2 ECC Div. I). The Centaurs recorded three blocks for points.
“We were getting a lot more touches on the ball than we’ve had and had some blocks that we terminated. The last two practices, that is all we worked on; how we position ourselves on defense, how we wanted to defend (East Lyme outside hitter) Sydney (Iannantuono), and how we wanted to take away the line and we were able to do that. We took them out of their game,” Bottone said.
Iannantuono finished with only 11 kills. Sammie Orlowski finished with 35 assists while Maddy Gronski added 22 digs for the Centaurs.
“It was really special,” Hernandez said of the win. “We’ve been waiting for this game for much of the season because of how intense (a match) it was to start the season. (East Lyme won the first two sets in Woodstock, but lost to the Centaurs, 3-2). We were ready because we knew they were going to come out strong in front of their fans. We came with the mindset that we wouldn’t let them get in our heads.”
It was a good-sized crowd on hand for the match including a pretty large East Lyme student section. But the Centaurs largely took the crowd out by not allowing them to have much to cheer about. East Lyme led a set on only two occasions; a 1-0 lead in the second set and a 2-1 advantage in the third.
“The teams that I’ve had have always thrived in this kind of intense environment and this team, with its looseness, feeds into it. They don’t really let anything bother them. It’s bizarre, but I love it.” Bottone said.
As expected, Killingly couldn’t establish too much against the Centaurs Oct. 15 at the Alumni Fieldhouse in the only other volleyball match of the week.
Woodstock Academy won the first two sets 25-13 and 25-5 and Bottone shifted combinations around in the third set and scored a 26-24 victory for the 3-0 win in the match.
Low had 10 kills and 10 digs; Hernandez contributed eight kills, eight service points and 12 digs and Gronski had 20 digs for Woodstock Academy.
Amelia Large had six kills in the win over Killingly (2-14) while Orlowski (11) and Emma Green combined for 19 assists.
The Centaurs finish off the regular season this week with games against Conard at home at 5 p.m. Oct. 24 and at RHAM in Hebron Oct. 26.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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