Chicopee Edges Monument Mountain in Five Sets
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- The Monument Mountain volleyball team did not make it to the title game of the Class B Western Massachusetts tournament.
But the Spartans did make a statement about their ability to overcome adversity.
Chicopee’s Alanys Torres recorded 29 kills Thursday to lead the Pacers to a five-set win over Monument Mountain.
The top-seeded Spartans got 13 kills and a block from Mia Wade in the 14-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-19, 15-11 loss.
But it was the 31 assists from junior Tori Pevzner that jumped off the stat sheet.
Pevzner was playing without senior setter Brianna Ayala, who was injured in Tuesday’s quarter-final win.
“For our second setter to come in and do what she did and for us to accomplish what we did on the floor tonight in a Western Mass semi-final game with a brand new setter, shows a lot about what these girls are made of and how close they are and how tight they are as a team,” Monument Mountain coach Kyle Henry said. “Next person up. It doesn’t matter what happens, next person up.
“Tori did a fantastic job tonight. … She’s got tough shoes to fill because Brianna has been setting our varsity team for the past three years. But Tori’s been working really hard. Her serve is really good, and she was hustling all over the place tonight.”
Pevzner had three aces in the first set and served five points in a row to help the Spartans open up a 19-7 lead late in the set.
The Spartans put away that set with an ace by Cate Consolati (eight kills), and they took an early 9-7 lead on Ava Cohen’s kill in the second set.
But Chicopee kept the things close and turned the set around with an eight-point service run from Kelsey Rau to open a 20-11 lead.
Torres had a pair of kills during that run.
“Alanys is a great player,” Chicopee coach Nicole Patton said. “She’s been a very big asset for us all season. She has a phenomenal hit, and when she hits, it’s tough to return. She played very well tonight.”
An Alana Nadeau kill gave the Pacers set point at 24-17, but Monument Mountain fought off six straight set points, getting kills from Wade and Ella Saune before a tip at the net by Chicopee’s Tatiana Lozada decided the set and evened the match.
Even though Chicopee won the set, the Spartans had the momentum after fighting as long as they did, and Monument got big service runs from Barenski (seven points) and Consolati (five points) to open a commanding 15-4 lead en route to a 25-13 second-set win.
Continuing a theme that ran throughout the match, Chicopee found itself playing from behind, 2-1.
“I felt like we were trailing behind the whole time,” Patton said. “But we were able to pull it out. We played smart, we played together, and we didn’t give up.”
Chicopee came from behind in the fourth set to overcome a 17-14 lead late. Lozada ended the set on a seven-point service run, the last two coming on Torres kills, to send the match to a deciding fifth set.
Again, Monument took a lead, this time going ahead, 7-3 on a Barenski ace to cap a five-point run.
But a couple of rotations later, Gwyneth Gagnon served three straight points to give Chicopee a 9-8 lead, and the Spartans never went back ahead.
A Barenski block tied the match at 11-11, but a Torres kill gave the Pacers a critical lead and a sideout at 12-11. Nadeau then served three straight points to send Chicopee to Saturday’s regional final against Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter.
Monument Mountain, meanwhile, awaits Monday’s seeding meeting for the state tournament. For the first time this year, the Western Mass tournament, organized by the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference, is part of the MIAA’s regular season. Henry said he is not sure whether Ayala will be available for the state tourney.
“Honestly, for her sake, I hope she does,” he said. “To go down as a senior and not be able to participate tonight, it’s killing her. She’s a special kid. You don’t want to see your senior captain go down or any of your seniors go down. For her to do what she’s done for the past three years, she’s heartbroken.
“We’re not done yet.”