Mounties Survive Five-Set Thriller at Lee
LEE, Mass. -- A back-and-forth match came down to a back-and-forth fifth set Wednesday as the Mount Greylock volleyball team prevailed, 3-2, at Lee.
The Mounties got a tip at the net from Kelsey MacHaffie to set up their second match point of the night, and then MacHaffie served out the match for a 25-27, 25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 16-14 victory and a season sweep of the Wildcats.
"It's always fun playing them because their coaching staff is just amazing and they have really talented girls," MacHaffie said of Lee. "It's just really fun to play them every time we do."
It was definitely fun for the crowd that turned out for the battle of Western Division rivals. And Mounties coach Greg Geyer enjoyed what he saw as well.
"I think the funnest thing about this whole match was the rallies," Geyer said. "Those were great rallies and people making amazing plays.
"That one where Annie [Coody] came over here [out of bounds] to get a ball on a third touch, that was just really great. And it was excactly what we needed, exactly what we needed."
Mount Greylock earned its second win in a row against a Berkshire County rival after losing its first match of the year last week and improved to 9-1 this fall.
MacHaffie finished with 11 kills. Annabelle Coody led the Mounties with 19 kills, and Kylie Sweren had 15. Emily Alvarez pulled up 26 digs and served four aces.
For Lee, Karalynn Hopkins and Juliana Schuerer each had a double-double. Hopkins had 18 kills and 16 digs; Schuerer passed out 30 assists and pulled up 12 digs.
The Wildcats came out strong with a 10-4 lead in the first set. But the Mounties eliminated half of that advantage with a three-point run on Emily Alvarez' serve; her second ace of the night made it 11-9, and neither team led by more than three the rest of the way.
The Mounties had a set point at 24-23, but a service error gave Lee a sideout. Mya Andre's kill gave the Wildcats a 25-24 lead, but they did not close the match until Hopkins put away a kill for a 27-25 victory.
The second set got off to a wild start when Sweren (11 aces, 15 digs) served seven straight points to give the Mounties an 8-0 lead. And, after a sideout, Lexi Masten (19 digs, eight kills, seven aces) served eight in a row to give Lee a 9-8 lead.
From there, the teams went blow for blow until Claire Davis (28 digs) served four straight to give Lee a 22-19 lead.
MacHaffie got a kill for a sideout and then served three straight to give the Mounties a 23-22 lead.
An Olivia Perez kill gave the Mounties a sideout and a set point at 24-23, and Sweren's kill evened the match at a set apiece.
The Mounties carried that momentum into the third set with a five-point run on Sweren's serve to start the set. But two rotations later, Masten served nine points in a row -- three on Hopkins kills -- to give Lee a 12-6 lead.
The Mounties never got closer than three points the rest of the way as Lee took a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mounties got yet another big service run from Sweren to start the fourth set as she gave her team a 6-0 lead with an ace.
But Lee rallied to retake the lead on a Hopkins kill and went up 12-9 on a kill by Schuerer in a six-point service run from Kayla Clark.
Lee led 18-14 with a 2-1 advantage in the match when Sweren's kill gave Mount Greylock a sideout.
Sweren then served 10 straight points to end the set -- closing with three straight aces and a Coody kill.
Neither team led by more than two points in the fifth set.
Lee took an 8-7 lead on a block by Masten at the midway point. The Wildcats were strong defensively at the net all night.
"We have Mika [Diller] and Mya [Andre], who work really hard as our middle hitters," Lee coach Julia Warner said. "They cover a lot of court, and they take away court defensively. Even if they're not getting their hands on the ball, as far as getting blocks on [the stat sheet], they are taking away a lot of court for our defense to be able to set themselves up and be able to get a good ball to our setter."
A kill by Masten gave Lee an 11-9 lead, but the Mounties stayed close. A block by Olivia Cook gave Mount Greylock a sideout at 12-12, and Tyanna Lepicier served two straight points, getting a kill from Annabelle Coody for Mount Greylock's first match point at 14-12.
Hopkins got a kill to give the Wildcats a sideout, and Davis delivered an ace to tie it.
But on the next point, MacHaffie got a tip to regain the serve for Mount Greylock, and Lee could not return her serve, ending the match.
"Playing matches like this is like a playoff match during the season," Geyer said. "Win or lose, this is learning. And we want to learn on every point, and we want to improve on every point. The more this happens, the more they're going to get that."