SUNAPEE, N.H.- The Lakers girls volleyball team played a solid match from the opening serve, and in the process, picked up their first win of the season over Fall Mountain in straight sets Monday night (25-11, 25-22, 25-12).
Tess Palin’s strong serve won final point of the first set for Sunapee as Carissa Peirce made a great dig midway into the set to help grab a point, which was a big momentum swing. “I liked the way we started strong and held that flow throughout,” said Lakers head coach Tom Reney after the match.
FM jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set on the heels of a beautiful Erin Donovan dig but after Peirce’s dig of her own, the momentum had swung in favor of the Lakers. The Wildcats’ Hannah McCormick had a great kill during the set but Sunapee pulled away for a 25-11 win to get things started.
The second set was loaded with long volleys and some scrappy saves on both sides of the net. Early in the set, Molly Reed’s point gave the Lakers a 5-4 lead but Elissa Brady’s loud block for FM kept the lead to only a single point. Lexie White served the game to a 10-10 tie for FM. The prettiest play of the night belonged to Fall Mountain’s Rachel Watson as she turned and flicked a shot just over the net for a point. Sunapee grabbed the second set 25-22 as Molly Reed’s net play was a big difference maker and the momentum was in favor of the Lakers.
Palin opened the third set with 4 straight points for Sunapee and they never looked back, as Mackenzie Wrightington served the game winning point to close out the match 25-12.
Sunapee’s Nicole Malanga had multiple perfect sets from her front position on the night and felt it was a good team win. “I thought we had lots of scrappy hits from both lines tonight and our flow was just what we were looking for… everyone played well,” said Malanga after the game.
Sunapee improves to 1-2 on the young season and will head to Inter-Lakes (3-1) on Wednesday while FM drops to 3-3 and will entertain Stevens (0-3) on Wednesday.
LAKER STATS
Serving: Molly Reed, 4 of 6, no aces. Grace Clay: 5 of 7, no aces. Nicole Malanga, 8 of 8, no aces. Mackenzie Wrightington, 12 of 12, 3 aces. Carissa Peirce, 17 of 20, 11 aces. Tess Palin, 12 of 14, 7 aces.
Hitting/ kills: Tess Palin 7, Carissa Peirce 3, Mackenzie Wrightington 3, Grace Clay 1, Molly Reed 3, Nicole Malanga 2, Lexi Miller 1.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.