HOLYOKE — In the birthplace of volleyball, the Holyoke girls team was tested by Ware, pulling out a 25-14, 17-25, 25-16, 25-16 victory on Wednesday.
The second set that the Purple Knights dropped was the first set all season that the team had lost.
“We were challenged today,” Holyoke coach Paula Conway said. “It was good. It was good for us to have that challenge.”
Holyoke (10-0) breezed through the first set in its usual team-oriented fashion.
In the second set, the Knights struggled with errors and couldn’t rebound from a 17-9 deficit they found themselves in. They rallied a bit to make it 21-17 after forcing Ware (3-7) to commit a handful of errors, but that was all the team could muster as it dropped eight straight points to lose the set.
“The first set we played pretty tough volleyball all around,” Conway said. “Second set, we got in a little bit of a funk and we couldn’t get out of it. No matter what we tried, we were just not capitalizing on anything and they actually saw some weak spots on the court and they were putting them in those spots and we weren’t defending very well.”
The third set was back and forth for the bulk of it. The two teams stayed within a point of each other from when Ware led 9-8 to when Holyoke took a 16-14 lead. The Knights pulled away from there, winning the set 25-16.
In the fourth set, the Purple Knights came out swinging. Holyoke rattled off eight straight points to make it 11-2. Ware made things interesting for a small stretch but the serving ability of the Knights prevailed and they won the set 25-16.
“Our serving was a lot better,” Conway said. “Our setting was a little bit better. Our matchups were better. The hitting was better. The serve got us back in. We struggled a little bit earlier in the match so I think that helped a lot. We want the best matchup. Whatever the situation, we want to make sure that we’re in the best position for the best matchup and I think we were doing that in the third and fourth sets.”
Holyoke rallied on its strong serving, which was led by senior Destiny Calderon. Calderon had five aces and 12 assists. Her aces came at opportune times for the Knights, with two coming back-to-back in the third set when they trailed 7-4.
The team combined for 42 kills and Calderon’s setting was critical to getting the Purple Knights to that mark.
“Tons of assists,” Conway said about Calderon. “Her great placement serving. She’s a good server. Her better judgment on where to set the ball, where to serve the ball and her smarts helped us get back in the game.”
Calderon helped the team with her facilitating but Autumn Charnik was there to finish those opportunities. A newcomer to the team as a senior, Charnik has been a key player for Holyoke both offensively and defensively.
Charnik accounted for 21 kills. She was also key to the Knights bouncing back in the third and fourth sets, with her defense saving possessions. She finished with 17 digs.
“All over and a good defensive player,” Conway said about Charnik. “She’s very vocal, very good coverage defensive player and she’s a very great offensive player. You play to the strengths of your team and she’s definitely one of our strengths. She’s a welcome addition to the team.”
Selena Garcia (one ace) had 11 kills and two blocks, while Jaelee Lagoy (three aces) had 15 digs and Ashanty Bonilla (two blocks) six kills.