Mounties Hold Off Townies In Volleyball Showdown

Just a little better, three times.

A poised and talented girls’ volleyball team solidified its hold on first place in the Division I-North standings by surviving a stiff challenge from host East Providence High, 3-0, before a large crowd Thursday night.

The Mounties prevailed by narrow margins of 26-24, 25-21 and 25-23, to improve to 8-0 in divisional play this fall and 9-0 overall. The second-place Townies dropped to 6-2 in league action and 8-2 on the year.

Setter Carissa Gould dished out 37 assists, while hitters Kelsey Lace (13), Kim D’Alessandro (9) Danielle Lippacher (7) and Meaghan Walsh (5) combined for 34 kills as Mt. St. Charles rallied from late deficits in all three games to complete a two-match regular-season sweep of East Providence. Last month in Woonsocket, the Mounties bested the Townies by a 3-1 margin.

“These are the two premier teams in the North this year and this kind of match is really fun,” said MSC Coach Josh D’Abate. “It’s encouraging to see our team step up when they’re playing a good team. It could have gone either way and the scores were close.”

Leah Drolet sparked EP with 12 kills and 3 blocks, while Hannah Drolet (5) and Kim Thomas (4) combined for 9 kills and 9 blocks and setter Alexandria Amaral amassed 24 assists.

“There comes a point in a match when you have to make plays to finish a team off and right now, our offense is not good enough to do that,” said Townie Coach Alex Butler. “If you take away the scores, I think you’d have to say it was an even match. It came down to them making the plays when they needed to.”

All three games featured frequent lead changes, superb floor play, constant momentum changes, adroit hitting and volleying, and an emotion-charged atmosphere worthy of a state championship contest. Neither squad led by more than seven points in the match and the outcome was ultimately decided by MSC’s more consistent play and ability to finish plays at critical junctures.

East Providence’s 16-13 edge in the opening contest was erased by a five-point Mountie surged fueled by four successive service aces from Lace. The Townies went back in front by a 19-18 margin and were tied later at 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 until a D’Alessandro kill and a line violation provided the final two points for the guests.

EP held a 7-6 advantage in the second game until MSC’s Lindsey Morin served seven unanswered points highlighted by three Walsh kills. After trailing twice by seven points (14-7 and 15-8), the Townies roared back with an 11-1 burst ignited by four Thomas kills to assume a 19-16 lead, but the Mounties responded with a 9-2 spurt to conclude the game as Lace contributed two key kills and a block.

The back-and-forth trend continued in the third game as East Providence manufactured a four-point spread (15-11) and was in front by a 20-17 margin until Lippacher notched a block and a kill to knot the count at 20-20 and Lippacher, Gould and D’Alessandro all collected kills in a 5-3 match-concluding string.

Mt. St. Charles now holds a two-match edge over East Providence in the Division I-North standings with six contests to play with the possibility of a third meeting between the squads this fall in the Division I playoffs next month.

“I think we have a shot at meeting in the finals,” D’Abate said. “They (EP) are solid defensively and I can only see them getting better with their offense. If we do our job and they do theirs, it could be a great final.”

“Overall, it was a higher level of play for us tonight than it was a month ago,” Butler said, in reference to last time the two teams played. “The progression is there and we’re definitely on the upward slope.”