Mount Greylock Outlasts Lenox in Five Sets
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Mount Greylock volleyball coach Greg Geyer could not believe his ears.
“Eighteen?” he said, asking his assistant coach if he had heard her correctly. “She had 18 kills? Wow!”
“She” was senior Kylie Sweren, who helped lead the Mounties to a five-set win over Lenox in Tuesday’s season opener.
Sweren did indeed lead the Mounties in kills in her first varsity match after establishing the school’s single-season record for assists as a junior last fall.
This year, with all-state hitter Celina Savage moved on to the college ranks, the Mounties have asked Sweren to step up in a different way.
“She’s obviously a college-level setter,” Geyer said. “She’s thinking about playing in college. And I said to her, ‘What do you think about this hitting thing?’ And she said, ‘Yeah. I like it.’
“So that’s nice.”
Anabelle Coody had 13 kills, and Olivia Perez served five aces for Mount Greylock as it outlasted Lenox, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 16-14.
Kelsey Kirchner had 16 kills for Lenox, which got seven digs from Hailey Armold and 15 assists from Etta Schnackenberg.
It also got a first-set win over the Mounties, repeating a feat the Millionaires pulled off in the Western Mass finals last season. Lenox was one of just three teams last year to earn a set against Mount Greylock, which finished 25-0 in winning a Division 5 State Championship.
Lenox on Tuesday became the first team to take Mount Greylock to a fifth set since last September, when Longmeadow dropped a 3-2 decision in Williamstown on its way to a berth in the Division 2 State Semi-Finals.
With much of the core returning from last year’s squad, Lenox coach Steve Laurin is expecting the Millionaires to be competitive this fall.
“We’re a little disappointed, of course,” he said of Tuesday’s result. “We were really hoping to take this one after last year and after [Mount Greylock] lost some really heavy hitters. We were really thinking we would be able to step up to the plate.
“I felt like this was a championship match tonight. You felt the energy. It was a fantastic first game, first showing. Going to five games with an undefeated team was – despite how they’re feeling right now – a feather in our cap.”
Lenox got an ace and two points off the serve of Evelyn Julieano to take a 20-15 lead late in the first set. It got its first set point with an ace from Schnackenberg at 24-18, but the Mounties scored the next four points before the Millionaires were able to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In Set 2, Mount Greylock took a four-point lead on the serve of Emily Alvarez, who had an ace to make it 10-6 and give her team a cushion it never relinquished. Lenox got with a couple of points at 19-7 on an Armold ace. But after a side out, Alvarez served two points to push the lead back to 22-17, and the set ended on a Sweren kill to even the match.
Lenox fell behind in the third set, trailing 14-7 before an Abby Winger kill for a sideout and a Winger service run of five straight points to get within one at 14-13. Mount Greylock then pulled ahead with three points from Sweren’s serve to get to 21-15.
But Grace Julieano put away a point with a tip for a sideout and then served four points to make it 21-20.
After the teams traded sideouts, Evelyn Julieano went to the service line and served out the set with four straight points.
By that time, Evelyn Julieano, who started the match in Lenox’s rotation, had donned a libero jersey after Emily Barenski had to head to the bench.
“We were scrambling a little bit when Emily Barenski, my first libero, had to step out for something wrong with her ankle,” Laurin said. “You saw my freshman, Evelyn Julieano, take the libero uniform.”
It was the first time in a varsity match that Julieano took on that role.
“I played around with it at the jamboree a little bit, and I felt like, ‘Geez, I better bring that uniform, just in case,’ “ Laurin said. “And, lo and behold … that position really suits her. She’s a fantastic athlete, as is Emily. It’s nice to have that in our arsenal.”
Lenox rode the momentum into the third set and took a 6-3 lead. But five straight points, including a couple of aces, from ninth-grader Olivia Perez gave Mount Greylock an 8-6 lead, and it never fell behind again.
A three-point run by Winger late gave Lenox hope of putting away the match in four sets. Kirchner’s kill made it 24-23, Mount Greylock. But the Mounties got the next point to force a fifth set.
Neither team led by more than two points in that set, and the first match point was erased by an Armold ace to make it 14-14.
But Mount Greylock earned a sideout to get a second match point, and junior Teigan Brady put the contest away with a kill at the net to touch off a wild celebration for the Mounties.
“It was exciting,” Geyer said. “That player, Tiegan, played JV last year. And she just cranked the ball on game point. It’s just fun to see these new players growing. It’s very exciting.”
Mount Greylock (1-0) is back at it on Wednesday when it hosts Lee.
Lenox (0-1) goes to Easthampton on Friday.