Mount Greylock Battles Back to State Title Match

DALTON, Mass. – Not all 3-0 wins are the same.

 

The Mount Greylock volleyball team has had a lot of sweeps on its way to a 24-0 record this fall. Twenty-one of them in fact.

 

But Monday’s state semi-final win over Baystate Academy was anything but a walkover.

 

The Bulls gave the Mounties a run for their money in a nail-biting, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 decision that sent Mount Greylock back to the Division 5 State Championship Match for the second year in a row.

 

After leading most of the third set, Baystate, the 2021 state champion, had a 23-22 lead late before Julia DeChaine delivered her sixth kill of the night to give Mount Greylock a side out.

 

That sent senior Jacqueline Brannan to the service line.

 

“That was the most nerve-wracking serve of my entire life,” Brannan said after serving out the match. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Every thought was running through my head.

 

“Afterwards, I went to my parents and said, ‘You can take the biggest deep breath of your life.’ I just had to really center myself. I was just like, ‘Even if it’s not the greatest serve, I know my team can cover it and we can take care of it.’ That’s what I was thinking.”

 

On her first serve, a Baystate attack went into the net to give the Mounties match point.

 

On her second, Kylie Sweren tipped the ball over the net and off the fingertips of a Baystate blocker. The ball hit the floor and the Mounties’ celebration began.

 

Their next opponent is yet to be determined. Third-seeded Turners Falls plays No. 2 Bourne on Tuesday in Worcester in the other half of the D5 bracket.

 

But as Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer said after last week’s quarter-final win, all the potential Final Four opponents will be a challenge.

 

And Baystate did not disappoint.

 

“This is the best we looked all year, period,” Geyer said. “That was a great team, and they really showed it in the third set. I mean, they really showed it. I’m still in shock, and I was there. I was coaching them, but I’m still amazed at how we came back.”

 

Looking up at a 2-0 deficit in the match, the Bulls stormed out to a 12-3 lead in the third set, spurred by a six-point run on the serve of Jolanie Colon.

 

It was 17-8 later in the set when Mount Greylock all-state selection Celina Savage delivered a kill to give her team a side out and put the ball in Kelsey MacHaffie’s hands.

 

MacHaffie, who delivered huge serves in Mount Greylock’s Western Massachusetts title game win a couple of weeks ago, had the run of her life, serving eight points in a row to tie the set.

 

“Her serving was insane,” Brannan said. “I think she had five aces. And her energy every single time she’s on the court is ecstatic. And I love it. And I think she really brought us up. And we felt, if we can get back from that, we can win this game.

 

“She just showed us that we can.”

 

The tying point came with some controversy. Early in the rally, a Baystate player went under the net, but the referees let the point continue – and ultimately appear to end in a kill by the Bulldogs’ Shanneidy Hernandez. After consulting, the officials reversed the point, awarding it to the Mounties for the violation to make it 17-16, Baystate.

 

Baystate’s bench was then assessed a red card for arguing the call, which gave the Mounties a point to tie the set.

 

The Bulldogs recovered and went on to win two points on Colon’s second turn at the service line in the set to take a 22-19 lead.

 

But after a side out, Mount Greylock’s Talia Kapiloff served two points – getting kills from DeChaine and Brannan, to tie the set and set the stage for the final few dramatic points of the match.

 

“You never know what you’re capable of until you’re pushed,” Geyer said of his team’s performance. “It’s great to see us rise to the level of that competition, great competition. I really thought those guys were one of the absolute best teams in Division 5.”

 

MacHaffie, who turned the tide with her serving in the third set, also gave the Mounties a lift in the first set, serving five straight points to open a 22-16 lead late. The second set was back and forth all the way until DeChaine served three straight points, getting a tip from Savage to earn the Mounties a set point at 24-18.

 

Baystate fought off that set point and two more before Sweren, the Mounties’ star setter, got a kill with an assist from Savage, the team’s attacker, to put away a second 25-21 win to open the match.

 

As usual, most of Mount Greylock’s kills came from Savage, who had 24 of them – many were the kind of powerful hits that elicit “oohs” and “ahhs” from the bleachers. Many, but not all of them.

 

“Celina today changed her shots, deliberately, and scored,” Geyer said. “She wasn’t just pounding the ball. She had a couple where she tried to put it into the [3-meter]  line, and it ended up in the net. And she just decided, ‘OK, I’m making some shots here.’ And she went back and just crushes it.”

 

Savage said she had fun changing things up.

 

“That’s what I love about volleyball, honestly,” the Mount Greylock senior said. “I love that you can do six hits in a row, and then you can just [fake them] out with a play. That’s so much fun.

 

“That’s what I’m so excited for next level because it gets so much smarter. I don’t have to use power all the time to actually be effective. I think that’s what’s so great about the sport, too. I love it.”