CHS volleyball loses nailbiter to No. 1 OA

The Bulldogs competed together and grew together during a memorable fall campaign. (Mike Tureski photo)

In one of the most satisfying late-season runs in her two decades as CHS head girls volleyball coach, Pat Cawley watched with pride from the sidelines as her Bulldogs pushed top-seeded Oliver Ames to the brink, matching them point for point across two thrilling sets on the Tigers’ home floor before falling just short in the end, 10-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-27.

For the ninth-seeded Bulldogs, Saturday’s defeat marked a bittersweet end to what had been a truly memorable run, culminating with a second straight trip to the Division 2 state quarterfinals. A perennial power boasting two of the best at their respective positions, the Canton girls had morphed into legitimate contenders over the final few weeks of the regular season, and they carried that momentum into the tournament — dispatching both No. 24 Masconomet and No. 8 Wakefield in straight sets to earn another shot at their longtime Davenport Division rivals.

It was the Tigers, in fact, who had handed Canton its only loss in the last month, and just like their first meeting back in mid-September, that match was over in the minimum three sets. But rather than stripping them of their confidence, Cawley said both prior losses had the opposite effect.

“Both of those matches, I believe, were among our best played,” she said. “In the second meeting, we lost the first two sets 25-22 and really could have taken either set. Going into the tournament, we felt we were at our best, and if we could play at our top level, we could take the match.”

Unlike the fast starts in their two playoff wins, however, the Bulldogs struggled mightily at the outset of Saturday’s rematch and fell into an 0-2 hole. But they dug deep and came out much stronger in a must-win third set, repeatedly answering the bell and overcoming a late three-point deficit to eke out a win behind the clutch play of senior setter Erin Bigham and outside hitters Chloe Dubuisson and Brooke Connor.

“I am so proud of how these girls didn’t give up,” noted Cawley. “Down in both sets three and four, our team kept pushing and had OA on their heels. We took set three 25-22. At that point we know anything was possible entering set four.”

Trailing 19-11 and with no more margin for error, the Canton girls clawed all the way back to tie it up at 23-all, aided by key kills from Dubuisson, who led all Bulldogs with 18 in the match, and Brooke Connor, who had a dozen of her own. Sophomore Brynn Connor also came up big in the fourth set with a few timely kills, while sophomore Michaela Singleton and junior Fiona Trendell each recorded aces.

Unfortunately for Canton, the last two clutch plays belonged to the Tigers, who converted back-to-back kills to clinch the match. While it was a heartbreaking finish for Canton, Cawley said it was a testament to the Bulldogs’ “determination and will to fight” that they were nearly able to push it to a fifth set against an opponent that had previously not lost a single set through the entire postseason.

Standouts for Canton included Bigham, who capped her brilliant, record-setting career with a stellar all-around performance (30 assists, 17 digs, 4 kills, 1 ace, 1 blocks), and star libero Soley Rodriguez Martinez, who anchored the defense and also filled the stat sheet with 27 digs, three kills, two assists and an ace.

Senior Melanie McDonough (8 digs, 1 kill), Trendell (6 digs, 1 ace) and junior Lilyanne Martin (2 digs) all played well in the backcourt, while Brynn and Addison Connor and MJ Robbins added strength at the net with several blocks. Cawley also gave a special shout-out to Singleton, who came off the bench to serve in crucial situations and went 10 for 10 with an ace.

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