SOUTH HADLEY — Some teams have a heartbeat — the person that the whole group rallies around, who can lift people up and keep the team together during difficult moments.
For the South Hadley volleyball team, it seems pretty clear that that person (or one of them, anyway) is captain Erica Anderson.
“One of our captains (came) in a couple minutes late,” said South Hadley head coach Corey Koske. “She’s a big part of this team and I think my team thought there was a little hole on the court that they couldn’t do anything about until she showed up.”
The senior was running late to Tuesday’s match, and didn’t get in until midway through the first set. By then, the third-seeded Tigers had fallen into a sizable 10-2 hole against No. 6 East Longmeadow.
Shaken but not phased, South Hadley quickly settled down to earn a sweep in the Western Mass. Class B quarterfinals. The senior contigent powered the squad to a 25-23, 25-11, 25-15 win.
Once she got warmed up, Anderson racked up eight kills, four aces and a block, while teammate Allie Sowers posted eight digs, five kills, and two aces. Cousins Olivia and Ella Marion posted 13 and seven assists, respectively, and Olivia Marion added three kills. Junior Jessica Sabourin also impressed at the service line, serving up four aces in the win.
“I think we started off a little slow, and once we rallied and got the momentum, we didn’t give it back,” said Koske. “That was the key to winning in three [sets].”
The Tigers certainly looked much more comfortable once Anderson was back on the court, and they shook off their early nerves. Sowers stressed that the team was moving too quickly at the beginning, and taking a moment to slow the pace down was key to their comeback.
“We always have to tell ourselves to slow down and not try to rush. I know personally, I was rushing,” said Sowers. “But I think it’s important to slow down and focus on each point, so that’s a big deal. The energy was definitely number one, but I think that focusing and trying to get the connection that we have back together was also the greatest factor.”
“It’s been the toughest part all season, keeping the energy up,” added Anderson.
If keeping the energy up was difficult for the Tigers, they didn’t let it show — at their best, South Hadley made its most impressive plays look effortless in front of a raucous home crowd cheering them on. Whether it was Anderson at the front of the net with a timely block, Sowers out left with a wicked kill, or libero Talia Uribe’s ‘pancake’ save early in the third set that allowed the Tigers to continue building a lead, there was always someone stepping up to keep the team going.
The first set ended with a dramatic back-and-forth battle between the sides, with the Tigers finally tying things up at 18-18. Neither team was able to get more than a two-point lead throughout the end of the set.
After South Hadley eked out that win, it made it through the second set without too many difficulties after another semi-slow start. Serving was on point for the Tigers for most of the night, whether it was through aces or forcing East Longmeadow errors.
The same was true for the third set, where the Tigers went on an impressive 8-0 run early that forced East Longmeadow to take a timeout to try (and fail) to slow their momentum.
Can the Tigers keep that energy up all the way through the playoffs? Sowers thinks so.
“We haven’t been on varsity and won Western Mass., but we plan to this year,” she said.
Next up for third-seeded South Hadley is a Class B semifinal Thursday night on the road at No. 2 Paulo Freire.