CHS volleyball team stays perfect with 3 more victories

The CHS varsity volleyball team steamrolled through three more opponents last week, improving its season record to 10-0 following straight-set wins over Foxboro, Stoughton, and Taunton.

Senior captain Julia Murphy (Mike Barucci photo)

At this point, it is clearly the Bulldogs and then everybody else in the Hockomock League, with Canton now a perfect 9 for 9 in league matches, including earlier wins against Kelly-Rex Division leaders North Attleboro and Franklin.

Last week, the girls made quick work of their closest competitors in the Davenport Division, beginning on Monday with second-place Foxboro, which went into the contest riding a five-match winning streak.

The Bulldogs managed to take all three sets with relative ease, winning 25-17, 25-14 and 25-22 behind an excellent defensive effort from senior captain Mellyn Costello and senior opposite Lizzy Doherty, who combined for 16 digs.

Senior Alex Walsh and junior Avery Devoe also came up big with several key blocks, which helped to neutralize the Warriors’ best outside hitter. Offensively, the team was led by senior captains Julia Murphy (13 kills) and Kaitlin Phillips (13 assists, 3 aces), with important contributions from both Devoe and senior outside hitter Jackie Bornemann, who combined for eight kills.

“The entire team saw action in this win,” said head coach Pat Cawley. “Our goal for the week was to maintain focus even with a large lead, and we were able to accomplish that against Foxboro.”

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs traveled to Stoughton to play the third-place Black Knights, and the result was a hard-fought Canton win.

The visitors ended up winning all three sets; however, they just squeaked by in set one (25-22) and needed a monster comeback to pull out set two after the Knights jumped out to a 12-4 lead.

“We always have trouble playing in the Stoughton gym,” said Cawley. “The low ceiling, a boy on the court, and a 6’3” middle blocker to contend with made for a challenging day.”

Eventually, the Bulldogs hit their stride in set two and “went back to work taking one point at a time.” They got a huge lift from Doherty, who served for nine straight points, while Erin Proctor provided a spark on defense. The girls went on to win by six points before cruising to the finish line with a 25-15 win in set three.

Murphy finished with a team-high 14 kills to go along with two aces and two blocks. Bornemann had another strong performance, finishing with nine kills, two aces and one block, while Doherty finished with 16 service points.

“It was a great team effort to overcome such a large deficit in set two,” said Cawley after the match. “It will be an experience to draw upon if we find ourselves in a similar situation in the future.”

After two big Davenport victories, the Bulldogs closed out the week on Friday with a 3-0 road win over Taunton, the newest member of the Kelly-Rex Division.

Despite the result, Cawley said it was not one of her squad’s best performances, as the Bulldogs looked “a little complacent” against the winless Tigers.

“Taunton pushed us to the brink in set two,” said Cawley. “We were slow to the ball and made many errors.”

Top performers for Canton included Murphy (15 kills, 2 aces), Devoe (6 kills, 2 blocks), Phillips and Proctor.

This week, the Bulldogs were due to face their final two Kelly-Rex opponents with a home match Tuesday against King Philip (9-3) and an away match today versus Mansfield. The girls will then close out the week on Friday at Notre Dame Academy, which is 8-2 and considered one of the strongest teams in the state.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 11 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.