Volleyball tops Attleboro for coach’s 200th win
By Jay Turner
CHS volleyball players celebrate after their season-opening win vs. Attleboro. (Cynthia Rosina photo)
Update: The defending Davenport champion CHS volleyball team continued their strong start with a 3-1 win at Franklin Wednesday night, improving to 3-0 on the season.
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Veteran head coach Pat Cawley recorded her 200th career victory and the lady Bulldogs made quick work of the visiting Attleboro Bombardiers in a memorable and productive opening night for the CHS varsity volleyball team last week.
With a revamped lineup featuring several new starters, the Bulldogs impressed in their first game action of 2019, winning in straight sets, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16.
Senior captain Taylor Harris, a starting outside hitter and the team’s most accomplished returning player, picked up where she left off after her dazzling display in last year’s state tournament run, torching Attleboro for 15 kills to go along with three aces and 12 digs. Other top performers in the win included junior Angie Elias (6 kills, 2 aces, 7 digs), Liz Bickett (4 kills, 11 digs), and Nikki Desjardins, who was impressive on defense.
As for Cawley’s milestone achievement, the coach herself declined comment, preferring to keep the focus on the players and their strong debut. Still, the significance of the win did not go unnoticed by the team as they held a post-game celebration for Cawley complete with balloons, cake and confetti.
Now entering her 13th season as head coach, Cawley has helped transform the Bulldog volleyball team into a perennial league champion and regional superpower. A 2017 inductee in the Mass. Girls Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, she has guided CHS to six sectional finals appearances and a sectional championship in 2012.
Last year’s squad nearly took home a second sectional trophy, going 19-2 before falling in five sets to Groton-Dunstable in the D2 central finals. Harris in particular was sensational in that match, and now she, co-captains Elias and Olivia Chinsen and the rest of the returning veterans will look to finish what they started while integrating a collection of promising newcomers.
The early returns are certainly encouraging, with the Bulldogs adding a second win earlier this week at Foxboro to improve to 2-0 on the season. The squad was also due to visit Franklin on Wednesday, followed by another road test next Monday at neighboring Stoughton.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=60203
Posted by Jay Turner
on Sep 13 2019. Filed under High School, Sports.
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