Winnisquam and Farmington both entered on a roll. They came in as the only undefeated volleyball programs in Division III, had hardly been tested on the season and are both vying for the No. 1 seed with the postseason looming.
So when they met for the first time Monday, something had to give.
Winnisquam set the tone by taking the first two sets, 25-16, 25-16. Farmington responded, evening the match with a pair of victories in sets three and four. But only one team would leave with its perfect record still intact, and that was the Bears after topping the Tigers, 15-8, in the fifth and final set.
“It’s good to have to play the top teams. It’s good to get pushed,” Winnisquam coach Mike Livernois said. “It’s nice to play a fifth game because you hate to have that happen for the first time in the tournament and I was happy with how they responded.”
It was the second consecutive impressive showing for the Bears (11-0) after sweeping Inter-Lakes in straight sets in a rematch of last year’s D-III title contest Friday night.
It also places Winnisquam directly in the driver’s seat for the tournament’s top seed with five matches remaining in the regular season.
“When you get one of the first two seeds and you don’t have to play the first round, you get a whole week to get stuff going, fine-tune things and heal up; that’s a nice luxury to have,” Livernois said. “Then you know your first round (game) is at home and then you’re at Plymouth State where you’re in the final four. Once you’re there, anything can happen.”
To get there, the Bears knew they would have to go through a team of Farmington’s caliber eventually, and Winnisquam was ready from the start of the match Monday night.
Winnisquam flashed its skill in the first two sets, relying on the service game of Gabby Isabelle to take total control of the second set for the commanding 2-0 advantage. Isabelle finished with 10 kills, 23 digs and featured six of her team-high 12 aces in Winnisquam’s second-set win.
“We had a big lead in both of (the first two sets),” Livernois said. “We were able to really control the play and run our offense well while stopping their offense. I thought it was a really focused two sets where we did exactly what we were supposed to do. We got them off guard and kept them off guard.”
Farmington (10-1), though, rallied with its back against the wall. The Tigers took the third set, 25-18, and forced a fifth set with another comfortable victory in the fourth, 25-17.
“Volleyball is a different than a lot of sports,” Livernois said. “It’s a game of momentum, and sometimes when you lose it, it takes a lot to get it back.”
But a team as deep and experienced as Winnisquam didn’t blink.
The Bears opened the fifth set with a heavy advantage, stacking up points quickly and riding their lead to an 11th straight win to start the season.
“From an experience standpoint, this is a really important aspect of getting ready for the tournament,” Livernois said. “If you’ve never been pushed, sometimes it comes back to bite you.”
While Isabelle paced the team in aces and digs, it was Shannon Goodwin leading the way in kills with 21 to go along with 19 digs. Setter Olivia Dill notched 33 assists with nine digs, senior outside hitter Sarah Seymour finished with nine digs and two kills and senior defensive specialist Aubrey St. Onge added nine digs.
Next up for Winnisquam is a home game against Nute on Thursday.
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
Boys’ Soccer
Belmont 5, Monadnock 0
Key players: Belmont – Lucas Mathieu (3G), Angelo Papadopoulos (G), Nate Sottak (G, A), Colby Brown (A), Jake Deware (3 saves)
Highlights: Tough conditions on a small field, but Belmont was able to get control of the game early and settled in for the win.
Records: Belmont 11-0-1; Monadnock 4-6
Pittsfield 6, Newport 1
Key players: Pittsfield – Colby Wolfe (3G, 2A), Jesse MacGlashing (G, 3A), Chandler Norris (G), Kyle Stockman (G)
Highlights: The game was tied 1-1 at the half but the Panthers exploded in the second half, scoring five times to secure the win.
Coach’s quote: “We got off to a slow start this afternoon but controlled play throughout the second half. Hopefully we can build upon this effort and get more consistency over 80 minutes of play.” – Pittsfield’s Derek Hamilton
Records: Pittsfield 5-7; Newport 2-7-1
Pembroke 2, Hanover 1
Key players: Pembroke – Kayla Paquin (G), Maddie Bailey (G), Sam Muise (defense) Hannah Serafin (defense)
Highlights: Hanover scored first but Paquin tied it up before half. In the end, Pembroke outlasted Hanover by scoring 27 seconds into the second overtime to hand them just their second loss of the season.
Coach’s quote: “The girls showed a lot of grit today, this marks another fantastic win for this group. Hanover is a very formidable program and I’m proud of these girls.” – Pembroke’s Jess Kaufman
Records: Pembroke 11-1; Hanover 8-2-1
Hopkinton 3, Stevens 1
Key players: Hopkinton – Ellie Morrall (2G), Jessie Carney (G), Caitlin Clark (A), Annie Higginbotham (A), Mia Bassett (3 saves, A), Kally Murdough (defense)
Highlights: The highlight was playing under the lights, and settling the score with Stevens, which beat Hopkinton on their Homecoming. In the opening minutes of the second half, Stevens was awarded a penalty kick and converted to tie the game at 1-all. Hopkinton was able to dig deep and move the ball around the field even quicker to score two more in the game.
Coach’s quote: “It was a great night. Traveling for a night game in Claremont to come home with the win against the No. 1-ranked team in the division was fantastic for the Lady Hawks. Everyone is healthy and as a team we have started to hit our best.” – Hopkinton’s Mike Zahn
Records: Hopkinton 8-3-1; Stevens 10-3-0
John Stark 3, Bow 0
Key players: John Stark – Delaney Forrestall (2G, A), Meg Girardet (G, A), Sydnee Pelletier (9 saves), Gracie Bolduc (A), Kasey Arnold (A); Bow – Courtney Baer (13 saves), Maddie Soucy (5 saves), Riley Constant, Elizabeth Guertin, Barrie Guertin, Sarah Guerrette, Maddie Tibbetts, Emma Hilton.
Highlights: Forrestall netted her first goal on the day less than two minutes into the game to ignite the Generals. She added her second just after the halfway point in the first half to give Stark a 2-0 lead at the break. Behind some aggressive goaltending by Pelletier and defense from Olivia Desainde, Stark held on adding an insurance goal by Girardet late in the second half.
Coach’s quote:“Although several individuals played well today, we did not play our game as a team.” – Bow’s Rebecca Cleary
Coach’s quote: “Our team has played so well over the last two weeks and today was their strongest game yet. Another big step in our development.” – John Stark’s Dennis Pelletier
Records: Bow 3-9; John Stark 5-7
Sanborn 2, Pembroke 1
Key players: Pembroke – Alysse Cleasby (G), Ali Corriveau (A), Mirium Kafkoulis
Coach’s quote: “Although this was a tough loss for us as both teams are fighting for playoff spots, I felt our team played really well as a group today and did some things out there that I hadn’t seen them do before. I felt like we controlled a lot if the game today. In the next two games we need to not only be the better team, we need to be the team that scores more goals. ” – Pembroke’s Aimee Monterio
Records: Pembroke 4-8; Sanborn 4-7
Bishop Brady 3, Newfound 2, OT
Key players: Bishop Brady – Abby Shagena (2G), Libby Hicks (G), Michaella Savary (A), Ashlyn Toupin (A), Riley Marsh (A), Emma Windsor (6 saves)
Highlights: Newfound scored first with 3:06 remaining before Brady answered with no time remaining on the clock to play out a corner for Shagena, who scored off the assist from Savary. Newfound again took the lead in the second half, but Brady used yet another corner at 2:38 from Abigail Tremblay to Toupin to Hicks for the goal. Shagena finished off the Bears with the game-winning goal in OT.
Coach’s quote: “I am so proud of this team today for their continued commitment to being all in as a team! ” – Bishop Brady’s Kelly Owen
Records: Bishop Brady 10-2-0; Newfound 9-2-1
Winnisquam 2, St. Thomas 1, OT
Key players: Winnisquam – Emma Griffin (G), Maddie House (G), Lexi Poole (A), Eveline Auger (A)
Highlights: With tough field conditions and an extra period of play, the Bears didn’t put together their best game in terms of ball movement, field transfer and communication, but it was still enough to grab the victory. During the 7-on-7 overtime period, Winnisquam played six girls up to dominate St. Thomas’s defensive end.
Coach’s quote: “Today we won, however, it was not our best game. We had little communication and did not rise to the level of skill we have played with in the past. We have a big game tomorrow night against the No. 2 seed, Newfound. The girls will need to come together as a team once again to prove we are deserving of making playoffs. ” – Winnisquam’s Erin Cayer
Records: Winnisquam 8-4; 4-7-1