Pioneer Valley Christian Edges Mount Greylock in Western Mass Final
CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Mount Greylock volleyball team went toe-to-toe with Pioneer Valley Christian in its sixth strip to the Western Massachusetts finals in six years.
But this year, it is the Eagles who went home with the hardware.
Sadie Keegan put down a kill to give PVCA match point in a hard-fought, five-set win over the Mounties at Chicopee Comprehensive on Saturday afternoon.
Moments before, Keegan delivered a pivotal three-point run on her serve to erase an 11-8 Mount Greylock advantage and set the stage for a dramatic finish to a back-and-forth title match.
Mount Greylock, the second seed in Class C, got 26 kills from Olivia Perez and 39 assists from Kaleigh Jaros but, for the second straight year, the Mounties could not grab the brass ring.
Tyanna Lepicier had 11 kills, and Cecelia Keogh finished with five kills and a team-high five aces in the 25-20, 19-25, 16-25, 26-24, 17-15 loss.
Mount Greylock repeatedly showed its toughness in the loss, bouncing back from a first-set loss to win the next two and rallying for eight straight points on Keogh’s serve with PVCA sitting on set point in the fourth.
Although the Eagles eventually pulled out the set to even the match, the Mounties carried the momentum into the first-to-15 fifth set.
“That was so big,” Mount Greylock coach Faith Wehner said of the late fourth-set run. I think it really shows the strength and the mental endurance of this team. To be able to come back from down nine points, I mean, that takes so much mental endurance, more than just skill.
“It’s hard to get nine points in a row, and to be able to do it like that was just incredible.”
In the first set, a six-point run for the Eagles on Lia Delgado’s serve gave Pioneer Valley Christian a lead it never relinquished.
PVCA got a kill from Keegan and two straight finishes from Avelinn Baxter to open a 14-11 lead after the Mounties led by four points just moments before.
Baxter and Keegan gave Mount Greylock trouble throughout the first set, but the Mounties made an adjustment to quiet the Eagles’ big hitters over the next two frames.
“I think we were able to get them out of system a lot more, and I think they were having a harder time getting to those middles and getting those middles some good sets,” Wehner said. “Just a lot of take their setter out, deep balls, just a lot of smart play.”
Neither team could get more than a two-point lead for most of the second set. The Mounties finally were able to take control on a five-point run on Lepicier’s serve.
Caroline Callahan got things started with a block and added a kill, as did Keogh before Lepicier served an ace to make it 21-15.
Haydn Derby served out the set, getting a tip at the net from Perrez in a three-set run to level the match at 1-1.
The third set also was back-and-forth until a Perez kill gave the serve to Anna Garnish with the set tied, 13-13. By the time she lost the serve on a tip from PVCA’s Delgado, Mount Greylock had a 19-14 lead.
It was still a five-point margin when Perez went to the service line, and she started with an ace in a four-point run that ended with a kill from Lepicier to give Mount Greylock a 2-1 lead.
Mount Greylock’s offense really started to assert itself after going down in the match, and Jaros was right in the middle of things.
“Kaleigh does such an incredible job,” Wehner said of her setter. “I’ve recently switched her to a 5-1 [alignment], so she’s my only setter running it the whole time. And she has adapted to it so well. I think she brings a level of consistency and confidence to the game.”
Karos, who also collected four kills and four digs, served four points in the fourth set to give Mount Greylock a 12-6 lead.
After a sideout, Delgado, Baxter put down back-to-back kills to start a five-point run for PVCA to tie the game at 12-12.
Two sideouts later, Keegan served six straight points, including three more Baxter kills, to put the Eagles ahead, 19-13.
A tip by the Eagles’ Gracen Baxter got the lead to 24-15, and it looked like a fifth set was certain.
But a service error sent Keogh to the service line, and she served two of her five aces in an eight-point run. Perez had three kills in the run, including the point that tied the set at 24-24.
The Mounties’ hopes of closing out the match were dashed when PVCA got the serve back, and Keegan’s kill ended a 26-24 set to force the fifth.
Like much of the match, neither team could find much separation in the fifth set until Jaros’ kill gave Mount Greylock an 11-7 lead and forced a PVCA timeout.
After breaking Mount Greylock’s momentum, the Eagles were rewarded with a side out, and Keegan served three straight – two on Avelinn Baxter kills – to tie the set.
Mount Greylock regained the lead on a Perez kill for a sideout at 13-12, and Callahan’s block gave the Mounties a 14-12 lead and the afternoon’s first match point. However, a wide hit gave the serve back to PVCA, and Baxter served two points in a row to take a 15-14 advantage.
Lepicier’s kill eliminated PVCA’s first championship point. But Pioneer Valley Christian recorded the next two points to end the match.
Of course, it does not end Mount Greylock’s season.
The Mounties (15-3) came into Saturday as the third-ranked team in the commonwealth in Division 4, and a match against PVCA, the top-ranked team in D5, could help Mount Greylock’s state tournament seeding – even in a loss. The MIAA will release the 32-team fields for all five volleyball state tournaments on Tuesday afternoon.
“The more good teams we play, the better, in my opinion,” Wehner said when asked how Saturday’s match helps prepare the Mounties for the next post-season tournament. “Sometimes, it’s good to lose. It really hurts to lose, especially in big games like this. But it teaches you a lot, and it’s only going to make us better.”
Photos from this match to come.