Mount Greylock Volleyball Rides Fast Start to Three-Set Win
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — It was a dream start for the Mount Greylock volleyball team as it marked its territory early against Sabis in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 tournament.
Consistency was the key factor in this match and Mount Greylock was able to ride that to a quick and easy three-set victory, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18.
In an opening round Western Mass tournament game it can be difficult keeping your nerves in check. Fortunately for the Mounties they were up for the task and were able to open up a comfortable first set lead, 14-6, to help ease any worries they had. This was due in part to junior Emma Hayward, who had a nice dig for a point, helping sophomore Takiera Darrow to find her groove serving for a quick four points in a row. Takiera Darrow finished the match with four aces and seven kills. Lucy Shepard also had a big night with four aces of her own and a team-high eight kills. Gabriella Alvarez and Alyssa Phelps each chipped in with a team high four aces.
“I’m really proud of our defense, They had some great outside hitters that we were able to pick up on early, and it helped the rest of our game out.” Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer said. "I’m very happy with our first set, We came out of the gate the best we’ve played all year. That was our high watermark, the beginning of the first set.”
Sabis did its best to claw back into the set with a 5-0 run, but it was too little too late.
In the second set it was a back and forth type game with both teams struggling to get any real advantage early on. When it looked like Sabis was going to gain some momentum, Mount Greylock captain Alvarez shut down the Bulldogs a 4-0 service run with a clever quick hit over the net catching the Sabis defense off guard. This sparked a run for Mount Greylock. It was once again Darrow who came up big late in the second set with two blocks for point. Shepard then made a nice save that eventually set up Darrow for an ace on set point.
“I was glad about our continuing to respond to adversity and coming up with big plays.” Geyer added.
In the third and final set, Sabis came out with a hunger that was missing in the first two sets. It was able to jump out to an early lead, something that was rare throughout the whole match thus far. It wasn’t until Alvarez was able to string along a nice serve for five straight points to sink Sabis and lead the Mounties to a clean sweep.
Mount Greylock will look to keep this momentum going Monday night against 13th-seeded Ware (13-8), a 3-2 winner over Paolo Freiro on Friday night. As the tournament moves on, Mount Greylock will look to stay aggressive on the offensive side in order to keep their hopes alive for a Western Mass title.
“We’re going to keep advancing our offense. If you saw the way we hit when we were on, that is the best we’ve hit all year,” Geyer said. “When you’re trying to get to that next level, you’re going to make a few more mistakes with aggressive shots, but as long as our defense is what it’s been we can afford to do that on offense.”