SOUTH HADLEY — The Belchertown Orioles staved off a comeback attempt by the South Hadley Tigers with a comeback of their own in the third set, rallying from down six points to sweep the hosts, 3-0, and win the Southern League girls volleyball title Tuesday night.
“I’m really excited for the girls, they just won (the Southern League) and that was one of their main goals this year,” said Belchertown coach Scott Poulin.
Cara McKenzie led the way for the Orioles with eight kills and six aces as Belchertown took its final game of the regular season and completed the season sweep of South Hadley, 25-20, 25-16, 26-24.
Had South Hadley (13-4, 5-2) beaten Belchertown (16-4, 7-1), it could have earned a share of the league title.
The Orioles started the first set with three unanswered points before Kiana Turner put the Tigers up on the board. South Hadley drew even at 5-5 after Belchertown’s Audra Hale and Becca Brozek both saw their shots hit the net.
The Tigers took a 10-7 lead before Hale and Brozek led Belchertown back.
The Orioles remained in control for much of the remainder of the first set. The Tigers tied it at 19-19 a short spike by captain Kaylyn Lebrecque, but McKenzie’s hard shot to open court on the next play gave Belchertown a lead it never surrendered.
In the second set, neither team took control until a ball went out of bounds on Tigers captain Olivia Footit to give the Orioles an 8-7 advantage. They kept expanding on the lead and scored the final five points to win 25-16 and take a 2-0 lead.
“Right in from the start, we had a lead the whole way,” said Poulin. “They got close, but we still kept playing with the lead.”
The Tigers pounced to start the third set, taking a 5-2 lead before a strong shot by McKenzie helped the Orioles tie the set at 5-5. South Hadley pulled away by three, but points by Hale and Jenna Blain helped get Belchertown into a 13-13 tie.
Tied at 15, Turner and Footit led the Tigers to a 23-18 advantage and looked to force a fourth set. But the Orioles came back behind McKenzie and Hale to take a 24-23 lead. Turner scored to tie the game, but a Footit serve went off the net to put Belchertown ahead. Quinn Roche’s point then clinched the match.
McKenzie “served awesome with the game on the line,” said Poulin. “Blain and Allie Lukas did a really great job setting up Hale. Quinn did an amazing job blocking, especially (Turner), who’s a really great hitter for them.”
Turner finished with 11 kills, four aces and 16 digs, while Morgan Adams chipped in with two aces, three kills and 17 assists. Kayleigh Jagodowski added three blocks and eight digs.
Blain finished with 12 assists, while Melanie Alibozek had three aces for Belchertown. Hale had nine kills.