Mount Greylock Tops Wahconah, Finishes Regular Season Unbeaten

DALTON, Mass. – After two nail-biting sets between two of the top-ranked volleyball teams in the commonwealth, the Mount Greylock Mounties found another gear.

 

Julia DeChanine and Jacqueline Brannan each provided long service runs to build a commanding lead, and Mount Greylock went on to win that set with ease and take the fourth for a 3-1 win and an undefeated regular season.

 

Celina Savage had 21 kills, and Brannan had 12 in the 25-20, 21-25, 25-11, 25-17 win for the Mounties (17-0), the top-ranked team in the commonwealth in Division 5.

 

Wahconah, the third-ranked team in D4 in the latest MIAA in-season power rankings, lost for just the second time this season, bookend losses against Mount Greylock, which won in three sets when the teams met in Williamstown on Labor Day.

 

On Thursday’s Senior Night, Wahconah did something just one other team has done in a varsity match this fall – win a set against Mount Greylock.

 

But after a huge service run by Wahconah senior Sasha Fyfe lifted her team late in the second set and put a charge into the home crowd, Mount Greylock immediately found an answer.

 

“Part of it was we came together, and in the second set, we missed a lot of serves in the beginning,” Brannan said. “A lot of us were frustrated, and we just had to come together as a unit. In the third set, we played together. We were excited, but we were stable. We were calming each other down so we didn’t get too amped up and stayed in the moment.

 

“And I think that was the difference.”

 

DeChaine (six kills, two aces) served six straight points to open the third set and give Mount Greylock a lead it only extended the rest of the way.

 

Brannan went to the service line for the only time in the set with the score 16-6 and did not give up the ball until Mount Greylock had a 14-point lead.

 

She recorded both of her aces in her five-point run, which also saw kills from Savage, DeChaine and Kylie Sweren.

 

Sweren did a masterful job directing Mount Greylock’s offense all night, putting the county’s most dangerous hitter, Savage, in position to drive home thunderous attacks and finding the rest of Mount Greylock’s offense to keep Wahconah off balance.

 

“Because everyone’s so focused on Celina, she’s drawing blockers,” Brannan said. “And she’s really good at what she does. But that leaves us open to do other things. When we have good swings, people aren’t expecting it as much. The defense isn’t really in that mindset for a hard swing, which we can deliver.”

 

Olivia Mason got a kill for Wahconah (16-2) to stop Brannan’s rally and get a side out, but Wahconah earned just two points on its serve the rest of the set. A Savage kill gave the Mounties a side out and set point, and Sweren served an ace to make it a 2-1 match.

 

“It was just a change of emotion,” Wahconah coach Dave Lussier said of the third set. “Grabbing a set from them, the second set from them, was big. We held the lead the entire set.

 

“Maybe it was a combination of us coming a little too loose to start that next set and them coming in, probably, angry that they lost one. I mean, we’re only the second team that has taken a set from them this year.”

 

The first was Longmeadow, the third-ranked team in Division 2, in a 3-2 Mount Greylock win back on Sept. 11.

 

Mount Greylock methodically built a seven-point lead in the third, never winning more than two points on its serve until Kapiloff went to the line late.

 

She served four straight points, the last on a block from Brannan and Kelsey MacHaffie, to push the margin to 11 points at 21-10.

 

Wahconah got some hope late when Fyfe served four points, including an ace, to get her team within six at 23-17. But Savage got a kill for a side out and match point, and a Wahconah attack went long to end the point and the contest.

 

Back in the first set, Wahconah showed that it was not going to be an easy night for the Mounties when Fyfe served five straight points to erase most of a 19-12 deficit.

 

After Sweren got the ball with her team up, 20-17, and served four straight to get to set point, Wahconah was able to fend off three of those set points before Kapiloff ended it with a kill for a 25-20 win.

 

Eve Colombari gave Wahconah a spark to start the second set with a five-point run that started with an ace. Later in the set, Fyfe (six aces, 14 digs) served five points to push Wahconah’s lead to 23-17. An Olivia Mason kill gave Wahconah a set point, which it immediately cashed in with a tip by Amelia Sturz to take the set by a four-point margin.

 

Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer knew his team was going to get tested by its Berkshire County and PVIAC Western Division rivals, and he was not disappointed.

 

“That team really played great, Wahconah played great, and I’m really proud of Mount Greylock tonight,” Geyer said.

 

“[Going undefeated] is a big deal. And it’s also a lot of pressure. It was pressure all the time, especially toward the end. This game, otherwise, would have meant we would have shared the league title. To have the pressure of having something you could lose … I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s great now that we’re done. It’s great that we’re undefeated, now that we’re done with that whole thing.”