East Hampton Knocks Off Unbeaten Terryville

There is one less unbeaten team in girls’ volleyball.

East Hampton traveled to Terryville to take on the unbeaten Kangaroos in a Class S quarterfinal game Monday night. In a hard-fought and closely contested match, it was the Bellringers who prevailed with a four-set victory, winning 25-16, 20-25, 25-13 and 25-23.

“Both teams left it out there,” East Hampton coach John Post said. “They’re a very disciplined team, they’re very aggressive at the net. We were able to control the net with our middles tonight. Julianne Toce and Andrea Nease were phenomenal.”

The Bellringers (19-3) took control midway through the first set then pulled away for a 22-11 lead. Terryville appeared rattled but regrouped in time to put together a small run before being put away.

The second set was close early on with Terryville clinging to a lead of between one and three points. Neither team could string together any points. With the score 16-13 in favor of Terryville, Vanessa Kelo finally gave the Kangaroos some breathing room with five straight service points for a 21-13 advantage. With Shayla Belanger serving, the Bellringers cut the deficit to 22-20, but Terryville hung on to even the match at 1-1.

The third set wasn’t close, with East Hampton taking a quick 9-3 lead behind the serving of Ashley Chasse. The Bellringers pulled away behind some great plays, including a kill Belanger placed down the left line and a tremendous dig by Dakota Reed. Chasse and Katie Beem had three digs each in the third set.

“Ashley Chasse was incredible,” Post said. “Her passing was phenomenal tonight and that really allows us to run the offense we want to run - a high tempo, and get Chasse the ball. That was a big key.”

With a chance to put the match away in the fourth set, the Bellringers did not disappoint, but it wasn’t easy. East Hampton fell behind 3-0 and trailed most of the way. Terryville took an 18-14 lead in a set highlighted by long volleys, but the Kangaroos could not close the deal.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t get there,” Post said of a fifth set, which is played to 15. “Anything can happen in a 15-point game. I think three of the four games they started off very well against us. You never want it to go down to five. You never want those quick games because anything can happen. It was very, very key for us to step up and finish that fourth game.”

East Hampton tied the score at 18 and held a brief lead before Terryville battled back for a 23-22 advantage. Consecutive kills by Nease gave the Bellringers a 24-23 lead, then Marissa Morassini, who was serving, finished the job with a dig that Terrville failed to return.

“That was a great win.” Post said. “That’s a great team we played against. That was a fun game.

“It’s what we talk about every day at practice, every match day. You have to stay within yourself, play on our side of the court because we can’t control what goes on over there. If we play our best, that’s all we can hope for. We really stepped it up today. The girls played great, every one of them.”

For the seniors, who are well aware that in a single-elimination format any game could be their last, the feeling of beating an undefeated team and moving on was every bit as exciting as it must have been a relief.

“It feels great,” said Morassini, who had 32 assists. “I was very nervous for tonight but we went in there and just played our game. I am so excited. I am very proud of every single person. I think we’re going to go far. I think we can do it.”

Said Chasse: “There’s nothing like this, with your team, being here. We’re definitely excited to keep playing and see how far we can go.”

Nease had 14 kills to lead the Bellringers.

“It was definitely a hard game,” the junior said. “We didn’t come in thinking they were easy, we came in prepared. The rallies were extremely long and it was a lot of focus and our team really had some heart out there. We worked as a team. Our seniors deserved to keep the season going. It feels great. We are so close. We are like a family.”

Next up for East Hampton is Coventry. The Patriots (20-0) has won five consecutive Class S titles and seven of the last eight.

According to Post, Coventry is to the state what Morgan is to the Shoreline Conference. He just doesn’t want his team getting wrapped up in what Coventry has accomplished.

“Our goal this season is to be the best,” Post said. “Since Day One we talked about not settling for just being good. We want to be a great team. That means we have to beat great teams. That means we have to win state championships. That’s what we’re building toward. On that note, we still have to play our game, do just what we did tonight. It doesn’t matter who we play, just control what we can control.”

The Patriots are no stranger to the Bellringers. Coventry defeated East Hampton 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2009 state tournament. Chasse feels this will help her team with the intimidation factor that has given Coventry an edge over so many previous opponents.

“We were [intimidated] our sophomore year and we got it out of our system,” Chasse said. “So now it’s a completely different situation.”

Chasse also thinks her team has a chance to dethrone the defending champs.

“I think we do,” she said. “I think we’ll figure it out, we’ll adjust and give them a run for their money.

Morassini, who described herself as being super excited, wasn’t selling her team short either.

“We definitely have a shot if all our players are on our games and we’re focused so we’re ready as a team,” she said.

That the Bellringers have the right mind-set and confidence heading into Wednesday’s match is a good start. For what it’s worth, Seymour must have felt it had a shot against Morgan, too, because it knocked off the undefeated Huskies 3-0 Monday night in Clinton. Make that two less undefeated teams.

Post talked about how all season the Bellringers had beaten the team they were supposed to beat but hadn’t beaten a team with a better record. Of course, other than Morgan, there weren’t any, until Monday night. And now they have. Just another step toward getting to where they want to be.