By Rob Potter
FORT MONTGOMERY — November 5, 2010 — Unfortunately for the Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs, their appearance in the Section IX Class C volleyball tournament did not last very long.
The host James I. O’Neill Lady Raiders swept SW in a Class C quarterfinal match on Tuesday night in Fort Montgomery. No. 3 seed O’Neill defeated No. 6 seed SW in three straight games, 25-8, 25-17 and 25-18.
With the win, the Lady Raiders improved their season record to 21-0. They were scheduled to face No. 2 seed Millbrook in a Class C semifinal match last night.
O’Neill took charge of the match early on by racing out to a big lead in game 1. With the Lady Raiders holding a 3-0 advantage, senior captain Kristen Smeland served nine consecutive aces to increase their lead to 12-0.
SW (9-11) finally got on the scoreboard when the Lady Raiders spiked the ball out of bounds. But the Lady Bulldogs still faced a 15-1 deficit.
Over the next few minutes, Bridget Plumley served a pair of aces and Nicole DiLorenzo and Mary Matautia each made a kill as O’Neill went on to win the game, 25-8.
In game 2, the Lady Bulldogs took their first lead of the night when Jackie Parsons made a kill to break a 2-2 tie. Brittney Milk then served an ace to give SW a 4-2 advantage.
But kills by DiLorenzo and Nawen Engle allowed O’Neill to tie the score at 4-4. After scoring another point to regain the lead, the Lady Raiders increased their advantage to 7-4 on two bad hits by SW.
From that moment, O’Neill gradually extended its lead to win the game by the score of 25-17.
Kills by Chelsie Stauch and Melissa McCormack helped SW move out to a 6-2 lead in game 3. After the Lady Raiders rallied to tie the score twice, Rebecca Corcillo served two straight aces to give the Lady Bulldogs an 11-7 advantage.
Smeland had two aces as O’Neill rallied to grab a 14-13 lead. The Lady Raiders then capitalized on some SW hitting errors on their way to closing out the game and match.
“We were playing against a team that just doesn’t know how to lose,” SW Coach Cliff Kelly said. “O’Neill is 21-0 this season. They are a great team and it showed out there on the court tonight, especially in that first game.
“We started to play better in the second and third games,” he added. “We got some of the jitters out of our system and were more comfortable.”
Corcillo led the SW offense with six service points, three blocks, three digs and one kill. Also contributing to the Lady Bulldogs’ attack were Amanda Goddard, Amanda Kehrley and Parsons. Goddard had two service points, five digs and one kill. Kehrley recorded two service points, six digs and one block. Parsons had two service points, two digs and two kills.
Kelly was happy that six of his team’s underclassmen were able to start game 3 and play about half of the game.
“It’s great that next year’s team was out there playing tonight,” he said. “So when they play next season, they will already have sectional experience. They played well tonight and really worked together.”
Kelly noted that SW will lose six seniors to graduation next June. They are Amanda Bercze, Amanda Goddard, Maya Grady, Sommer Johansen, Amanda Kehrley and Jackie Parsons.
Leading O’Neill to victory were Smeland, Kristi Lawless and DiLorenzo. Smeland finished the match with 19 service points and 12 aces. Lawless registered eight service points and three kills. DiLorenzo had six service points and two assists.
“It definitely helped to get that big lead in game 1 and win the game,” O’Neill Coach Patty Trefethen said. “It gave us momentum for the rest of the match.
“We played well tonight,” she continued. “Our offense has played great all season. Making kills and serving well have been the two keys for us. But we need our defense to step up and play as well as our offense.”