Thunder Holds Off Generals for Three-Set Win
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Mollie Crawford served nine aces and started the third set with a 9-0 run Tuesday to lead the Taconic volleyball team to a three-set win over Pittsfield in Moynihan Field House on Opening Day for both teams.
Crawford also pulled up a team-high nine digs in the 26-24, 25-21, 25-20 win.
The nine-point run on her serve gave the Thunder a big working margin after battling to wins in the first two sets. But the Generals rallied late to tie the set, 20-20 before Taconic closed things out.
“Awesome serving,” Taconic coach Lance Fyfe said. “She’s very good at spot serving, and I could definitely see she was being smart out there about what she was doing. She just kept it in.
“I think she only had one bad serve all night. And that’s really what we needed. We needed that from everybody. Mollie’s the one that brought it.”
Taconic got six kills, five digs and four aces from Gracelyn Cormier. Kiera Yee and Adriana Soasti each finished with four kills, and Kiara Burston and Melina King passed out nine and seven assists, respectively. Libero Isla DiMassimo anchored the defense with 16 kills.
Pittsfield got 10 assists from Sawyer Burdette and a pair of kills apiece from Gracie Gavin, Aurielle Abellie and Hannah Burtt.
A back-and-forth first set in front of a big crowd needed extra points to decide things.
Pittsfield got an ace from Isabella Cortes to take a 23-22 lead, and she gave up the serve after Taconic’s Soasti won a point with tip at the net to stave off set point and give the serve to Aurora Rose-DeMarco with the Thunder down, 24-23.
Rose-DeMarco (four aces, two kills) then delivered three straight serves that the Generals could not return to close out the set.
Early in the second set, DiMassimo served an ace off the net to give Taconic a 3-2 lead, and it never looked back, leading by three or four points most of the set, which ended on a tip by Yee that energized the Thunder’s bench.
“She’s kind of like a surprise to our lineup,” Fyfe said. “She’s just a sophomore. She’s doing great. Her technique is good, and she’s putting the ball down. She had some nice, hard hits tonight.”
So did several players on Taconic’s front line.
“[Cormier and Soasti] had some nice, nice hits,” Fyfe said. “[Soasti] had a couple of really nice tips.”
Yee had a kill, and Crawford recorded three aces in the nine-point run to open the third set.
After a side out, the Generals were able to settle things down with a pair of points on Isabelle Nkrumah’s serve that included a kill from Lizzy Klepetar.
And Taconic managed to keep the margin in the five- to seven-point range most of the set.
Then the serve came to Klepetar, who got a block from Gavin to start a three-point run that tied the set, 20-20.
But on the next point, a Pittsfield player was whistled for crossing under the net, bringing the serve to Taconic’s DiMassimo up, 21-20.
She finished things off with three serves Pittsfield could not bring back to touch off the celebration for the Thunder.
Although Pittsfield did not get the win it wanted, it did show some heart in the third set after falling into a deep hole.
“I’m definitely very proud of them,” PHS coach Katara Mullett said. “Seeing them grow over the past four years – this is my fourth year as head coach and the first senior class I’ve watched from their freshman year – and with such a big senior class, I want to see them succeed so badly.
“I’m trying to get them to play as much as possible with each other, so I’m very proud of the way they fought back tonight. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but I think it’s a good start to our season . And we can really push the fight throughout the rest of the season, for sure.”
Fyfe also was happy with what he saw in Taconic’s first action of the fall.
“We’re not easily distracted,” he said. “We don’t give up. And we are supporting each other really well. I didn’t see anybody getting down out there on the court, and that’s huge.”
Taconic opens the home portion of its schedule on Friday when Chicopee visits Valentine Road.
Pittsfield is home again on Friday to face Mount Anthony Union of Bennington, Vt.
Photos from this game to come.