Mount Greylock Sets Semi-Final Rematch with Lee

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock volleyball team had a lot of time to wait for its tournament opener.

 

It wasted no time taking control of the contest.

 

Alyssa Phelps served the first seven points of the match, setting the tone for a dominating 25-9, 25-16, 25-19 win over Mahar in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarter-finals.

 

“There was no let down,” Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer said of the break between the Oct. 22 regular season finale and Monday’s game. “I’m really happy with the way the team kept working.

 

Lucy Shepard had four kills, Caroline Hadley had nine aces and Maddie Albert had 11 assists to help the Mounties set up a Wednesday rematch with Berkshire County rival Lee in the sectional semi-finals.

 

The second-seed Wildcats advanced in their quarter-final Monday by knocking off South Hadley.

 

Lee and Mount Greylock split their home-and-home in the regular season with the Wildcats winning the season finale in South County.

 

The Mounties put that loss in the rear view mirror early on Monday.

 

After Phelps served up a couple of aces in her opening run to build a 7-0 lead, Caroline Hadley put the first game away with a five-point run on her serve to get the lead to 19-4.

 

Mount Greylock took control of the second game when freshman Takiera Darrow served seven straight points to give her team a 9-2 edge. Senior Holli Byrnes had a kill and a block on the last two points of that ran.

 

Albert (five aces) served four in a row to make it 14-3, and Gabriella Alvarez all but put it away with three points in a row to give the Mounties a 23-16 lead

 

Sixth-seeded Mahar made a stand in the third game, leading by as many as three points at 14-11.

 

But the Mounties regained command with an eight-point run by Hadley. She got the ball with her team down, 14-12, and when she gave it up, the Mounties were ahead, 20-15.

 

“She has been serving really well of late,” Geyer said of Hadley. “She changed her serve approach, and it’s been really great. I think she had a couple of runs like that, but the one there at the end was great.

 

“I thought the whole team during that run, we ran our base defense, we worked together on defense, so we kept the run going.”