Volleyball team bows to NA in inaugural Hockomock Classic

It was a bittersweet week for the CHS varsity volleyball team as the Bulldogs wrapped up a perfect regular season in the Davenport Division (Hock small) with a win over Foxboro, but came up short in its bid for the inaugural Hockomock Classic Cup, falling to Kelly-Rex Division champion North Attleboro for the second time in a span of eight days.

Although technically just another regular season contest, the first-ever Hockomock Classic, held Saturday at Attleboro High School, pitted the two division champions against each other in a battle for ultimate bragging rights in the Hock. It was also a perfect opportunity for the Bulldogs to exact revenge against the undefeated Red Rocketeers, who scored a decisive straight-set win in the teams’ previous meeting on October 22.

Once again, however, the NA girls came out on fire in the opening set, and while the Bulldogs were able to settle down as the match wore on, they simply ran out of steam as the Rocketeers cruised to a 3-1 victory.

For head coach Pat Cawley, Saturday’s match was as much a testament to the Rocketeers’ dominance — the team is now 20-0 and headed for a No. 1 seed in the MIAA tournament — as it was to her own team’s youth and overall lack of experience.

The good news, she said, is that her team proved it still belonged on the court with elite competition — even after suffering a lopsided defeat in set one in which the Canton girls played “scared and stiff,” according to Cawley.

In fact, it was the Bulldogs who came out on fire in set two, eventually winning 25-20 behind the offense of sophomore middle hitter Julia Murphy (8 kills, 2 blocks) and a strong overall defense. Canton then continued to play well in set three despite an eventual 25-21 loss, and the final set was a lot closer than the 25-13 score suggested.

“Overall, I was very proud of the teamwork and effort put forth in this match,” Cawley said afterwards. “NA is the best team we’ve played, and we showed that we can contend. Hopefully, this attitude will prevail in the tournament.”

In other action last week, the Bulldogs defeated Foxboro 3-1 on Senior Night to cap off an incredible first season in the Davenport Division, where they went 8-0 and ran away with the division title.

All six seniors — Anna Amico, Colleen Myers, Anjali Schutt, Paige Chaifetz, Margaret Amann and Kathryn Ruhl — took the court in the first set and did not disappoint, winning 25-22 with Chaifetz leading the offense and Amico leading the defense. Canton then lost the next set by the same score but won easily in sets three and four to take the match.

The Bulldogs also played a largely forgettable match at Franklin on Thursday, falling 3-0 on a night when only one team came to play, according to Cawley. Canton managed to keep it close in the first two sets — both 25-22 losses — but fell apart in a blowout loss in set three.

Canton (10-7) was scheduled to face Melrose earlier this week and will now turn its attention to the south sectional tournament, which gets underway tomorrow afternoon.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Nov 4 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.