Wahconah Survives Thriller Against Lee to Go to 10-0
DALTON, Mass. – After winning two straight sets and taking a five-point lead in the fourth, it looked like the Wahconah volleyball team was poised to put away its 10th win on Wednesday night.
It did, but it took a little longer than Wahconah might have expected.
Lee climbed out of a 22-17 hole in the fourth to force a fifth and final set.
But Wahconah found a way to come from behind in that deciding set for a 20-25, 25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 15-12 victory.
“We just knew we really wanted this win,” Wahconah’s Hannah Friedman said. “We needed this win to punch our ticket to the tournament. We want to stay consistent with our wins.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game. We knew we just had to be confident in ourselves and work together.”
Friedman pulled up 16 digs to go with seven kills and four aces, and she served a team-best 19 points, including the last three points of the match.
After a kill from McKenzie LaBier (nine kills, five blocks), Friedman’s turn in the rotation came up with Wahconah tied, 12-12.
She served out the match, punctuating the win with her fourth ace of the night to keep Wahconah unbeaten at 10-0 this fall.
Friedman also delivered another big service run in the third set, the only blowout of the night, delivering seven points, including a pair of aces, to give Wahconah a 10-6 lead it never relinquished in the set.
In the second set, with Wahconah already down a set and staring at a 23-20 deficit, Katelyn McCormack served five straight to flip the score and secure the 25-23 win.
“It’s really huge that they were able to step up, because for a serving night, per se, we weren’t on our ‘A’ game, especially in the first set, when we gave up, I think, six or eight missed serves,” Wahconah coach Dave Lussier said. “That was the momentum breaker and where we were constantly behind.
“We cleaned it up in the second set and the third set, we played pretty well. … In the fourth set, we had a comfortable lead, but Lee has a great defense. You have to be patient and let the kills come when they do, and they were able to creep back into it and take that fourth set.
“The fifth set, tight all the way through. Thank God we had some good service at the end there.”
Sasha Fyfe led Wahconah with five aces on the night; the libero also recorded 28 digs. Olivia Mason matched LaBier with a team-high nine kills. Casey Wilson and Jennah Bird directed Wahconah’s offense, compiling 14 and 12 assists, respectively.
Lee was led by Makayla Beckwith with nine kills. Karalynn Hopkins and Autumn Schwab anchored that tough Wildcat defense with 26 and 25 digs, respectively; Kayla Clark added 17 digs, and Makayla Schuerer had 14 to go with 12 assists and four aces.
Lee coach Julia Warner was encouraged to see her young team fight its way off the ropes in that fourth set, when sophomore Mya Andre served four points to get the score to 23-22 on a kill by Shayla Santolin (three kills, 10 digs, two aces).
After the teams traded side outs, Schuerer took the ball with her team down, 24-23, and served the next three points to extend the match to a fifth set.
“They played very well tonight as a team,” Warner said. “The last few weeks, we have been working on some transitions, we’ve been working on minimizing errors – all of the little things that, when it comes to a tight match, really matter. They played very well, right down to the very end.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to eke this one out.”
The Wildcats (4-3) go to Agawam on Saturday before a rematch with Wahconah on Monday in Lee.
Wahconah starts working on improving its state tournament seed on Friday when it welcomes Pioneer Valley to Dalton.
Video: Wahconah’s Hannah Friedman talks about serving the last three point of a five-set win over Lee on Wednesday night.
Video: Wahconah’s Hannah Friedman gets an ace on match point to close a five-set win over Lee on Wednesday night.
Video: Wahconah’s McKenzie LaBier gets a block in Wednesday’s five-set win over Lee.
Video: Lee’s Shayla Santolin puts away a point at Wahconah on Wednesday. Wahconah earned a five-set win to go to 10-0 this fall.
Video: Wahconah’s Sasha Fyfe serves an ace in Wednesday’s win over Lee.
Video: Karalyn Hopkins gets a kill for Lee in its five-set loss at Wahconah on Wednesday night.