Darrow Leads Mount Greylock to Senior Night Win
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Mount Greylock senior Takiera Darrow left her mark all over Wednesday’s Senior Night win.
She led the Mounties in kills with 12 and aces with five in their three-set win over East Longmeadow.
And she turned the match around with a seven-point service run to end the first set of a 25-21, 25-14, 25-14 win.
The visiting Spartans led most of the first set and had a 21-18 advantage when Darrow got the ball.
A kill by classmate Madison MacHaffie (four kills) started Darrow’s decisive run, which ended, appropriately, with an ace.
Mount Greylock went on to dominate the next two sets. Never trailing after 2-1 in either.
Darrow said that the emotion of the Senior Night pregame activities may have played a role in Mount Greylock’s slow start.
“In our first set, we were all, you know, sad,” Darrow said. “We were crying. We were excited. We were nervous. So, it was hard to shake that off. But once we did, as you can see, we just got right into it.”
Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer agreed that his team was a little off once the match got underway.
“It could have been the [distraction], or it could have been the energy that they expanded for Senior Night,” he said. “These kids really care a lot about each other. It’s a big deal to them, Senior Night. They put a lot into it. And our first three or four hits were hard out of bounds.
“Then we kind of dialed it in. Takiera, it seemed like everything she hit was a kill after that.”
Charlotte Coody had three kills and a pair of blocks. Celina Savage had four kills, three aces and two blocks.
That pair also had a pair of big service runs to take control of the final two sets.
In the second, Coody served seven straight points to get the lead to 20-8.
In the third, Savage served seven straight to put her team up, 11-3.
Darrow, who recorded her 450th career kill during the win, was recognized pregame with fellow seniors Tessa Leveque, Emma Sandstrom and MacHaffie.
Afterward, that quartet and the rest of the Mounties dished out at least as many hugs as they did kills during the match.
“I”m just so proud of them, and I’m so sad that I won’t be here to watch [the underclassmen] grow next year, but I know they can do it,” Darrow said. “I know that they’re all going to do amazing things, and it was great to end it like this. This was one of our best games of the year, and it was amazing to have that as our Senior NIght.”
It was also an emotional night for their coach. Geyer started with the Mounties four years ago, making the Class of ‘22 the first that he coached as ninth-graders.
“The other thing about these seniors is, they care about everyone,” Geyer said. “They’re not selfish players. And they really lead this team.
“Takiera seems to be getting better every single game. … Everybody played really well. Tessa Leveque played middle, she played a great game. Emma Sandstrom played opposite, she played a great game. Maddie MacHaffie played outside. She had a great game.”
Mount Greylock (14-2) finishes the regular season on Friday at Wahconah, making Wednesday the last regular season home game in the Mountie Dome.
But with the Western Mass tournament and the state tournament on the horizon, it likely won’t be the last home game this fall, and that’s good news for the growing and fanatical student section that once again turned out on Wednesday to cheer Mount Greylock on to victory.
“We love them,” Darrow said. “We love them so much because sometimes, when we all get down on each other and we don’t know how to bring each other up, they all have our backs, and they’re always right there. It just helps us get through it.”