Southwick's Hannah Sitler, right, sets for the block during Thursday night's game against Holyoke. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
HOLYOKE – It may not be baseball, but the Southwick-Tolland Regional High School girls’ volleyball team is down to a proverbial third strike.
Holyoke rallied to win a hard-fought match against visiting Southwick, 17-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-23, Thursday night. The Rams, who fell to 8-10, must win their final two games in order to qualify for the Western Massachusetts girls’ volleyball tournament.
“We made a lot of errors on our hitting offense,” Southwick coach Kevin Pender said. “We were digging the ball well, and communicating. When we communicate well, we play well.”
“Now we need two wins,” he said. “Mental focus – it’s a matter of having it on every play.”
Southwick closes out the regular season with matches at Pioneer Valley Christian School (Monday), and home against Central (Tuesday). Both games begin at 5 p.m.
On Thursday, Southwick came out fired up. It paid off midway through the first set when the Rams went on an 11-0 run to take a 23-13 lead. During that stretch, they received some solid serves from Anna Pickard, including two aces.
Pickard slammed home a kill for the set-winner, finding an open space on the Holyoke side of the net just beyond the net.
The results were reversed in the second game.
This time, Holyoke went on a big run, 10-0, to take a 20-6 advantage. The Purple Knights formed an unbreakable bond, despite the late heroics of the lanky Hannah Sitler, who delivered two late kills.
In the third frame, Sitler helped fuel an opening 8-1 run with a sizzling effort. She had a spectacular series of blocks, rejecting Holyoke’s hits like she was a human ping pong paddle. The outsized effort fell just short though as the Purple Knights delivered a fundamentally sound brand of team ball.
The fourth set was an all-out war.
During the last game, there were eight ties and six lead changes. Sitler and Millan Andreoli spiked some key kills for Southwick. The Rams had some crisp serves, solid sets, and led by as many as four points late, 21-17, before Holyoke rallied to tie 21-all.
Holyoke took a one-point lead, but two points from Southwick, the second of which came on an ace from Pickard, gave the Rams a 23-22 edge. The Purple Knights reeled off three straight points to claim victory.
While Sitler finished with nine kills and nine digs, teammate Pickard went on to collect four kills, four digs, and three aces. Rams’ Callie Flanders had five kills.
