Enfield Volleyball Comes Up Short In State Title Match

The cliche "the third time's the charm" unfortunately didn't hold true for the Enfield High School boys volleyball team Friday.

Having finished as Class M runnerup in 2007 and 2008, the Raiders were hoping to finally notch a state title onto their belt. In their way, however, was undefeated and top-seeded Oxford.

A game Enfield squad hung with the Wolverines for most of the match at Shelton High School. Ultimately, though, Oxford had too many weapons, prevailing 3-0 to preserve its perfect season and keep the Raiders from their elusive first state championship.

Enfield held three-point leads on three occasions in the first game, including 19-16, but Oxford came back to win 25-23.

In the second game, the Raiders trailed 9-4, but rallied to win nine of the next 10 points to take a 13-10 lead. Enfield maintained its three-point advantage at 18-15, but the Wolverines stormed back with seven straight points, eventually capturing the game by a 25-21 margin.

Oxford broke a 4-4 tie in the third game with five straight points, and Enfield never got closer than two as the Wolverines earned the championship, 25-20.

"We kind of lost momentum in that last game, and that hurt us," Enfield head coach Judy Joslin said.

Oxford's Rob Costigan earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors, delivering 23 kills and four blocks in the title match. Teammates Jason Mraz and Josh Thorne added 10 kills apiece.

For the Raiders, Kyle Maynard had seven kills and nine digs, Kevin Camidge had nine digs and six kills, and Jason Xiong had 19 assists, two aces and three blocks.