Div. 3 volleyball: Belchertown holds off Taconic for three-set Round of 32 sweep (PHOTOS)

BELCHERTOWN – After runaway wins in the first two sets, the Taconic girls volleyball team rolled up its collective sleeves and got to work against Belchertown. 

The No. 14 Orioles were hosting No. 19 Taconic in the MIAA Division 3 Round of 32, and it seemed like the home team was going to run away with the win, flying through the first two sets with 25-9 and 25-17 wins. But the Thunder were ready to crash Belchertown’s party in the third set, riding a 7-0 run midway through the frame to jump out to a 14-8 lead and forcing a Belchertown timeout. 

This game was personal, too – the Orioles had just knocked Taconic out of the Western Mass. Class B tournament in the quarterfinals a week prior.

“I think that we started getting a little bit cocky. We were like, ‘Oh, we got this.’ And then when we started losing, we just started getting more and more in our heads,” Belchertown’s Christina Santiago said. “When those moments happen, we know that we need to get out of this rut and we need to get to the next point.” 

From that point onward, the Orioles and Taconic put on a show, with the Thunder fighting for their season and the players on Belchertown attempting to pull off their first win in the state tournament. Ava Shea and Santiago led the offense with nine kills each while setter Vivian Ross posted 26 assists; Shea also added two blocks. Paige Magner swung for five kills and Gianna Picardi added a team-high eight digs and three kills. 

It was Taconic’s mistakes that cost it the first two sets, and it was those same mistakes that cost the Thunder the third and final one. Tied at 25, Taconic hit one ball into the net and couldn’t connect receives on the next play, giving the Orioles the two points they needed for a 27-25 win to complete the three-set sweep. 

“We’ve never made it this far. In states, we would always get out in the first round or not even make it,” Shea said. “So being here and going on to play even better teams, I’m so excited.”

Taconic led most of the second set until Belchertown tied it up at 18, and then outscored the Thunder 6-3 to get to set point. The Thunder scored three straight points on a couple of Belchertown misplays, riding strong serving from Ella Stodden to get to deuce. 

Part of the reason behind Belchertown’s success this season has been the team’s willingness to try anything. Their talent and determination led to them breaking out some new offensive plays against Taconic, using slide hits and “go” attacks to throw the Thunder off their game. 

“We’ve tried implementing some offenses… some of the go-routes, got the slides going and everybody just wants to do it and they’re trusting the process, and it’s awesome to see them execute that in a high pressure situation,” Belchertown head coach Melissa Gramuglia said. “You have to have really good passers, and between Chrissy, Paige, (Picardi), even Ava – I mean, how fortunate do I feel that I don’t have a libero and I have middles that can play all the way around and we can still run an offense like that?” 

Taconic struggled to wake up in the first two sets, making costly mistakes and letting Belchertown build up sizable leads; the home squad raced out to 19-4 and 15-4 leads in the first and second sets, respectively. That was also in large part thanks to senior Bethany Lavoie, who went on long runs at the service line after spending the majority of the season not serving. Typically, Lavoie would have a substitute server go in for her; Thursday, she rattled off a team-high five aces and showed her coach how much work she’d been putting in at practice. 

“She has been working on her serves for so long, and I was so happy she was able to serve today,” Santiago said. “She really proved herself.” 

The Orioles will face either No. 3 Weston or No. 30 Cardinal Spellman in the Round of 16. Though they don’t yet know which team they’ll face, they had a message for their eventual opponent. 

“Watch out, whoever we’re playing,” Santiago said. 

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.