Volleyball team takes 2 of 3 in busy week

After opening the season with a tough loss to rival Franklin, the CHS varsity volleyball team bounced back in a big way last week, winning consecutive matches against league opponents Oliver Ames and Stoughton while showing plenty of promise against a very talented Ursuline team on the road.

Arguably the Bulldogs’ most impressive performance of the busy week came Wednesday at Stoughton, where they gutted out a 3-2 victory against a feisty Black Knights squad.

“They are a very scrappy, determined defensive team, and they refused to let the ball drop,” head coach Pat Cawley said of the Stoughton girls.

After giving away a pair of leads and dropping the first set 25-23, Canton responded with back-to-back 25-16 wins in sets two and three. Stoughton managed to even things up with a close win in set four, but the Bulldogs finished strong with a 15-10 win to take the match.

Although Cawley was not pleased with the overall defensive effort, she saw plenty of bright spots on offense, which was led by junior opposite Olivia Murphy (12 kills, 4 aces, 15 digs) and senior middle hitter and team captain Colleen Myers, who provided consistent serving to go along with two aces and five kills. Sophomore setter Kaitlin Phillips also had a strong match, finishing with 18 assists and four aces.

Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs hosted Oliver Ames, and despite a lackluster performance in the second set, they still managed to collect their first win of the season.

“Although we have yet to play very good volleyball, we were able to come away with a win,” said Cawley following the 3-1 victory. “To the girls’ credit, they are fighting for every point and never giving up.”

Leading the way on both offense and defense were a pair of outside hitters: junior Alison McHugh, who finished with six kills, 22 digs, and four aces, and senior Paige Chaifetz, who had a similar stat line with six kills, 17 digs, and two aces.

While it certainly felt good to pick up back-to-back wins, Cawley said the real test last week came on Thursday at Ursuline — Canton’s toughest opponent to date.

And despite the fact that the young squad failed to win a set, they did manage to keep it close throughout, ultimately falling by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 26-24.

Cawley was particularly impressed with her team’s defensive effort, led by sophomore libero Mellyn Costello, who continued her strong start to the season with 20 digs.

On offense, junior setter Shannon Brady had a solid performance with 12 assists and two aces, while sophomore middle hitter Julia Murphy flashed some of her tremendous potential, finishing the match with four kills and 11 serves with no errors.

The Bulldogs had two more road meetings this week — at Sharon Tuesday and at Foxboro tomorrow afternoon — before returning to their home court on Wednesday, October 6, to take on King Philip.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Sep 30 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.