Cavs hold off Cardinals to advance

Friday, November 11, 2011

DERRY – As the ball floated above the net and senior Ari Creighton went up to get it, everyone in the Hollis/Brookline High School section of the bleachers at Thursday night’s Division I volleyball semifinal had to feel pretty confident about the outcome.

Bishop Guertin had given the Cavaliers all they could handle, winning the first game 25-19, then after losing a pair of games coming back to win the fourth game and force a tiebreaker.

The Cardinals would take 10-6 lead in the decisive fifth game, but Creighton wasn’t feeling nervous, and the Cavs rallied back to take a 14-12 edge.

“We’ve been down before, but we always seem to find a way,” said Creighton, whose decisive kill sealed second-seeded Hollis/Brookline’s 19-25, 25-16, 25-17, 20-25, 15-12 decision over sixth-seeded Bishop Guertin. “I wasn’t nervous at all, it just made us more intense.”

Kristyn Glover, who recently recorded her 1,400th career assist, added 45 more last night, set Creighton up for the winning point. It was one of 22 kills for the senior, who needed eight entering the match to each 500 for her career.

“She’s an amazing setter,” Bishop Guertin coach Brittany O’Bryant said of Glover, “It’s so hard to read where she’s going with the ball.”

The Cardinals knew they were up against a taller more lethal attack on Thursday, and seemed to find a way to defense it. Some big blocks set the tone early as BG jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first game, saw Hollis/Brookline rally to take a 13-12 lead, then used a 6-0 run to regain control of the game.

TiffanyAnn Stanton had seven digs in the opener, Natalie Wingate had three kills and Rebecca Noyes had five assists as the Cardinals took the first game.

“The goal was to come out strong and play with no regrets,” O’Bryant said. “We got away from our game plan in the second and third game, but seemed to get it back in the fourth and fifth.”

The Cavaliers got their power play in gear in the second game with Creighton leading the way with six kills and three service aces. Berry added three kills and two aces to the cause.

In the third game it was a familiar combination working for the Cavaliers, with 12 assists from Glover and six kills from Berry, who finished the night with 15 kills and 15 digs.

Then Bishop Guertin got it back, getting strong play in the fourth game from Noyes, who finished with 17 assists and 23 digs, and Wingate, who wound up with 12 kills.

“I knew it would be a battle right to the end,” Hollis/Brookline coach Becky Balfour said. “That’s what the semifinals is all about. That’s what playing in Division I is all about. We’re never going back.”