Lee Advances Past Lenox in Division 5
LENOX, Mass. – Because the Lee High volleyball team showed it can finish, the Wildcats are not finished yet.
Karalynn Hopkins had a double-double Wednesday in leading Lee to a 28-26, 25-17, 25-21 win over Lenox in the Division 5 State Tournament Round of 16.
Lee outlasted the Millionaires in a wild first set and went on to a 2-0 lead in the match. The key was being able to close things out, even after seventh-seeded Lenox took an early lead in the third.
It was a switch from the teams’ regular season meeting in Lee, when Lenox was able to rally from 2-0 down to take a five-set win.
“I think the biggest difference was our energy and having the entire team in it the entire time,” Hopkins said. “And we talked about finishing – finishing the last set. Because a lot of time we’ll get into a slump or we’ll give up a run of a couple of points, and we’ll be like, ‘Well, we have another set.’
“That mindset is what got us in a valley in our season. … I’m just really, really proud of my team for coming through and finishing.”
The loss to the Millionaires came right in the middle of that three-match slump Hopkins referenced. The Wildcats (16-6) won the first set in both the other losses in that stretch.
Lee coach Julia Warner also referenced her team’s need to do a better job closing out matches.
“That’s something that we have struggled with through the season,” Warner said. “We’ll start out really strong, and then we will, for whatever reason, give the other team some space.
“And so that was really important for us tonight, to be able to not just take the first two but to close it out in the third – to continue pushing, to continue putting the ball away and doing all the things we need to do.”
Hopkins led Lee with 14 kills and pulled up 16 digs to help send the team into the state quarter-finals, where they will travel to face second-seeded Whitinsville Christian (20-2) on a date to be announced.
Alexis Masten and Juliana Schuerer each also had a double-double in Wednesday’s win.
Masten finished with 11 kills and 13 digs. Schuerer handed out 30 assists and had 12 digs. Libero Claire Davis led Lee with 24 digs.
The first set between the county rivals featured eight lead changes and required extra points to finish.
Lee led, 22-20, after a Matsen kill late. But Lenox got a sideout on a tip by Grace Julieano (seven kills, seven digs, 13 assists).
Hailey Armold (12 digs, six kills), then served a pair of points, including one of her two aces, to tie it, 23-23.
Kelsey Kirchner put down a kill to give Lenox a set point at 24-23. But Lee staved off that set point and got one of its own on a kill by Matsen.
After an unforced error against the Wildcats, Kirchner served an ace to give Lenox its second set point at 26-25.
But a kill by Mya Andre gave Lee a sideout, and Schuerer served out the set, getting a kill by Matsen to deliver set point.
Lenox coach Stephanie Armstrong said she sensed a little change in her squad after going down, 1-0.
“We just got nervous,” Armstrong said. “I think it was the nervous energy of, ‘Oh no, we just lost.’ We weren’t playing as loose as we normally do.
“With it being a one-and-done situation … normally, we’d be like, ‘Oh, we’re good. We have time and everything.’ But in this situation, we just couldn’t shake those nerves of, ‘Oh, this could be our last match.’ I think we played tense. … We were playing more not to err versus trying to win. So that’s kind of the vibe I got.”
Lenox did lead, 6-2, early and led as late as 11-10.
But Lee took four points on the serve of Mika Diller and never trailed again.
Two sideouts later, the serve went to Schuerer, who delivered six points to give her team a 21-15 edge en route to a 25-17 win.
In the third, the Millionaires again grabbed an early lead with four points to start the set on Etta Schnackenberg’s serve.
But Lee took the lead for good with a three-point run by Kassidy Clark that ended with a block by Diller to make it 10-8. The Wildcats slowly built their lead, a couple points at a time, so that when Lenox did do some damage late, it never got closer than two points.
For the Millionaires, the loss ended a year in which they went 20-3 with a 19-match win streak that ended in the Western Massachusetts Class C title game.
“We had a great season,” Armstrong said. “I was just telling the girls, don’t let this match define how our season was. We came out, and we were laying well. It just wasn’t our night. Lee came out and played really well.
“But, overall, it was a good season.”