CHS volleyball team still perfect after 3-0 week

It was another dominant showing for the Canton High volleyball team last week as the Bulldogs made it seven in a row with three straight road wins over division foes Oliver Ames, Sharon and Foxboro.

Sophomore Elizabeth Hamilton (Mike Barucci photo)

Canton is now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the Hockomock League — along with Kelly-Rex Division leader Mansfield — and currently sits a full three games ahead of Milford and Stoughton for first place in the Davenport Division.

Last week the girls faced off against the bottom three teams in the standings, and head coach Pat Cawley mixed and matched lineups en route to three convincing wins.

On Monday the team traveled to OA and throttled the Tigers in straight sets (25-10, 25-13, 25-14).

“The entire team contributed to this win, and the players and I agreed that this was the best-played match of the year,” said Cawley. “We started strong and sustained for the entire match.”

Senior Avery Devoe has been the team’s go-to offensive player and had another outstanding performance, finishing with 13 kills, five blocks and two aces. Elizabeth Hamilton also played well for Canton, contributing four kills and three aces, while Erin Proctor and Meghan Hartnett ran the offense well from the setter position.

Two days later at Sharon, Cawley once again used the entire varsity roster as the Bulldogs kept the momentum going with a hard-fought 3-1 victory.

The Eagles had just one win going into the match, but after dropping the first two sets (25-12, 25-12), they took advantage of their vocal home crowd and some uncharacteristic errors by the visitors to take the third set 25-19.

Sharon then continued to play well against Canton’s starters in a back-and-forth set four, but the visitors held their ground and won in the end, 25-20.

“We had trouble with their aggressive serving,” said Cawley. “However, the starters held their ground and worked through the nerves.”

Avery Devoe once again paced the offense with 16 kills, three aces and one block, and Proctor had another strong match with 27 assists, three kills and one ace. Ellie Teague, Olivia Devoe, Hamilton, and Julia Mackie combined for 13 kills.

On Friday, the Bulldogs traveled to Foxboro and battled their way to another straight-set win (25-10, 25-18, 25-16), giving them five already this season.

“Foxboro is a scrappy defensive team and we did not have an easy time killing the ball,” acknowledged Cawley after the match. “That, combined with some unforced errors, kept the second and third sets close.”

Several players contributed to the victory for Canton, including Avery Devoe (13 kills), Hamilton (7 aces), Kim Frazier, and Olivia Devoe.

Cawley has also been impressed with the play of Danielle Arthur and Shay Connolly, who help anchor the defense and have “consistent, aggressive serves.” Rye Verille and Chidera Nwankwo have also contributed to the team’s fast start and continue to show improvement each week, according to Cawley.

This week, Canton will look to stay unbeaten with home matches against Stoughton on Monday and Taunton on Thursday (today) at 5 p.m. The schedule then gets considerably tougher with important showdowns looming against King Philip (7-2) and Mansfield (7-0).

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 3 2013. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.