BELCHERTOWN — One bad set won’t necessarily sink a volleyball team, but it has the potential to if a team can’t shake off the bad energy.
The Easthampton girls’ volleyball team had a choice on Thursday night at Belchertown. Following a second set that the Orioles absolutely dominated 25-10, leading by double-digits for the majority of the frame, the visitors needed a reset.
It would have been easy for them to crumble. Instead, the Eagles buckled down and got back to work.
Easthampton soared past the Orioles in a four-set win on Belchertown’s senior night, bouncing back from their horrendous second set to take the next two and secure the win (25-22, 10-25, 25-20, 25-18).
“We really love playing, we care so much….coming back, that’s the most exciting thing for us,” Easthampton’s Erin Teague said. “We all just are here to have fun and when we have fun, we play our best. If we’re not enjoying ourselves, we won’t play great, but when we’re having a good time, we’re gonna play really good.”
The first, third and fourth sets were much more evenly matched, showing how close the two Southern League rivals were when it came to skill. Setters Teague (22 assists) for Easthampton and Belchertown’s Vivian Ross (39 assists) went head to head, tossing perfect balls over to their hitters all night long. Belchertown ace Christina Santiago threw down 18 kills while Easthampton offensive powerhouse Kaelin Damon hammered 13 kills.
The difference maker for Easthampton was its defense. Both teams were able to get under the ball consistently, passing it cleanly to their setter most of the time, but the Eagles’ back line was stellar, led by libero Kayley Downie and her 26 digs, almost double that of her next-closest teammate Lidie Buttrick (14 digs); nobody on either team broke the 20-dig mark.
“She’s absolutely incredible,” Easthampton coach Molly Jacobson said of Downie. “And our defense really sparks our offense. When we’re digging balls, our offense is going to get kills. Obviously that’s logical, but it truly boosts the energy on my team and creates our drive to win.”
The second set was a clinic from Belchertown, with almost no unforced errors from the home team. Particularly, Belchertown’s middles Ava Shea (seven kills) and Paige Magner (six kills), along with Jordyn Hunter (five kills), were sending pinpoint kills to the left corner of Easthampton’s side of the court, building up an insurmountable lead that Easthampton couldn’t come back from, no matter how hard it tried. The Orioles went on a 9-0 run near the beginning of that set that set the tone for the rest of the match, though Easthampton tried to break it up with a timeout when the score was 12-4.
“Molly called the timeout and I was like, the vibes out there are immaculate,” Belchertown head coach Melissa Gramuglia said. “It’s magical when things are in sync and we’re just vibing and it doesn’t seem like things can really go wrong. I just wish that was the vibe the whole time.”
Neither team will have much time to rest before their next outing; the Orioles host Ware on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Easthampton will also play on Friday the 13th, heading back home to take on Turners Falls at 6.
Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.