Girls Volleyball: Northmen Sweep the Villa Novans, 3-0

Despite a slow start to the girls volleyball match-up against the Northmen Wednesday night, competitive play in the second and third games created some near wins, but ultimately resulted in a sweep by North Smithfield.

North Smithfield went on the road to visit , looking to get on the plus side of a .500 record, coming in at 1-1, and the Villa Novans were hoping for their first win of the season.

Both teams came out of the gate flat, with a lot of hitting errors and unforced errors.  But the Northmen picked it up in the middle of game one with clutch hitting from outside hitter Kelsey Lafferty, and Middle hitter Tara Larson. Larson was also able to put the game away on a serving run and North Smithfield took game 25-15.

Woonsocket cleaned up its play to start game two and jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, but that lead was quickly trimmed by an emphatic kill from Kelsey Lafferty bringing the score to 8-6, Woonsocket. The Villa Novans showed resiliency and stretched their lead to to six points, looking to take game two and get their teeth into the match.

The Northmen faultered after drawing within two of Woonsocket, due to bad passing and miscommunication on defense. Clutch serving from Katie Corriveau would get the Northmen back into the game bringing their deficit to just one point. The game was tied at 17 and remained close until the end when Northmen Sophomore Jess Trembley stepped up to the line and calmly delivered two great serves, which confused the defense and were unreturnable. North Smithfield squeaked out a game two victory, taking command of the match with a 2-0 lead. 

Tara Larson stole the show in game three. As a whole, the game was poorly played on both sides. Opportunites were squandered and routine plays seemed difficult for both teams. But North Smithfield Middle-Hitter Tara Larson was steady throughout the game, bringing the advantage to North Smithfield.

The Northmen built a four-point lead, which they surrendered while Larson was on the bench due to rotation. But upon her re-entrance she put one down around the block and proceeded to carry her team to victory. Larson's efforts proved just enough to pull out a victory and North Smithfield won game three, 27-25.

"Both my Middles [Hitters] were out tonight, so I switched Tara to the Middle and she filled in seamlessly," said North Smithfield Head Coach Jeffrey Crins.

"She's our go-to hitter," Crins added.

The "under the radar" star was Sophomore Jess Trembley who provided North Smithfield with solid all-around play the whole match.

"She's stepped right in as an underclassmen and is definitely making a big impact," said Coach Crins.

Both teams will be on the road for their next games as Woonsocket travels to Tolman on Friday, and North Smithfield travels to Central Falls on Monday.