LaFreniere Helps Wahconah Top Westfield in Straight Sets

DALTON, Mass. -- Kelsey LaFreniere reeled off three aces at just the right time to give the Wahconah volleyball team momentum in the second set of a three-set victory over Westfield on Saturday afternoon.

 

LaFreniere took the ball with her team ahead, 18-15, and four serves later, Wahconah had a seven-point margin it never relinquished, and Westfield was not able to get back in the match.

 

Wahconah (5-1) won by scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-10 for its third straight victory and second in as many nights.

 

LaFreniere ended up with four aces in the match and five kills, and Francesca Gigliotti had 13 assists.

 

Gigliotti also had five aces of her own on a day when Wahconah coach Dave Lussier characterized his team’s serves as inconsistent.

 

“Tonight was a good thing/bad thing situation with the serves,” Lussier said. “We missed quite a few tonight, which put us behind and kept them in the set. But then we did go on some nice serving runs.

 

“So we’re trying to get that consistency at serve. We want to be aggressive, but we also want to put them in.”

 

Neither team was able to get much momentum going in the first set, but Wahconah was able to build a working margin at 22-16 after Talia Warren served a couple of points.

 

Westfield responded with five straight points to get within a point, 22-21.

 

A Bombers’ service error put the ball in Laiken Cornwell-L’Hote’s hands with a two-point Wahconah lead, and she served out the set.

 

Wahconah posted two big runs in the second set.

 

The first, on Gigliotti’s serve, took it from 3-3 to 9-3, with a couple of Emma Parkington kills factoring in.

 

Westfield chipped away at that lead and got to within three points before LaFreniere’s run got Wahconah within site of set point.

 

Cornwell L’Hote got the third set started with four points on her serve to open a 6-2 lead. One rotation later, LaFreniere’s fourth ace of the match helped her push the lead to 11-3.

 

Parkington helped put away the set by combining with Rachel Kays on a six-point service run that pushed the lead to 22-6.

 

“I think we’re headed in a really good direction right now,” Lussier said. “We’re in the middle of a three-game, four-day stretch with really good competition. We played Pittsfield last night, and we’re traveling to Amherst on Monday.

 

“So this was good for us to have two solid days in a row.”