MIAA boys volleyball: Gavin Couchon leads Belchertown to gritty sweep over KIPP Academy in Div. 2 prelims

BELCHERTOWN — The No. 26 Belchertown boys volleyball team scraped together an impressive 3-0 sweep over No. 39 KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate in the MIAA Division 2 state tournament preliminary round on Wednesday night.

Right out of the gate, the Orioles faced an early deficit in the first set, with points difficult to come by. Slowly climbing back into contention, Belchertown tied the score at 22-22 for the first time since it was 0-0.

The two teams battled back and forth, forcing extra points to be played. With the score 26-25 in favor of the Orioles, Gavin Couchon dove backwards to save the ball from hitting the hardwood behind him. The junior got a hand on it, with the hit making contact with the top of the net and rolling over to score the point.

“Sometimes, we get off to a rough start and then we get going,” Belchertown head coach Chris Shea said. “It was good to get it, because don’t want to give [the Panthers] momentum. They had a long ride. They were aggressive, they were hardworking, and we didn’t want to give them any light to come back on us.”

Couchon celebrated the huge set-winning point from his back after watching the dramatic roll go his way, with his team immediately grabbing all of the momentum heading into the second set of the night.

The junior had a huge night in the win, tallying a team-high 16 kills from his outside hitter position. Adding on three aces and a pair of blocks, Couchon made sure to impact the game in as many ways as possible to lead the Orioles to the victory.

“I think [Couchon’s] establishing himself as one of the best outside hitters in Western Mass.,” Shea said. “… He’s just been our go-to guy. 
He’s just taken the next step, and I just want him to continue to be a leader, lead by example. He can do everything. He’s just a great player to watch.”

Again in the match’s third set, Belchertown faced a deficit on the scoreboard, with KIPP nearing 25 points. Down 20-16, the team kicked into another gear once again, finding a groove and quickly shrinking the deficit.

Despite the late push, the Panthers reached 23 points and were looking primed to come out on top. Coming out of a late timeout, the Orioles rattled off four unanswered points with their backs against the wall, again stealing a set win out from under their opponent, this time by a score of 25-23.

“I think, as soon as we got one big point, it started with one big one, then we could just build on that,” Couchon said. “We’re the kind of team that as soon as we start rolling, it just snowballs to get bigger and bigger runs. I think that helped a lot as soon as we started going, getting more excited.”

Another big reason for Belchertown’s success on Wednesday came from the play of setter Arda Cayan. The sophomore was efficient all night long, making the most of his opportunities and giving his teammates the chance for success.

The team’s communication was on point, with Cayan in tune with his hitters throughout all three sets. Along with one block, the setter tallied 34 assists on the night, leaving a huge impact on the win.

“I’m on [Cayan] a lot, especially from a leadership perspective,” Shea said. “You know, ‘You’re not just a sophomore, you’re the setter. You’re the most important guy, and you’re the guy that I look to when our offense is stale, and you’re the guy that I look to when our offense is flowing.’ It’s an important role for a sophomore, and he’s risen to the occasion. He has been spectacular.”

Despite an easier path to victory in the second set for the Orioles, the team was down over halfway through. This time, the group got back out in front quickly, not looking back until they had won 25-19.

With the win, Belchertown now looks ahead to the Round of 32, set with a tough matchup against No. 7 Marlborough next up. That match is slated for Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m. on the road.

“We’ve got outside hitters, we’ve got big guys, we’ve got passers, we’ve got a good setter,” Shea said. “I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t upset [Marlborough], but we’re gonna go in with the mentality of just trying to play the next point until they tell us there’s no more points to play. And that’s been our mentality all year.”

Boys Tennis

Belchertown 5, Tewksbury 0 — The Orioles left no doubt in their preliminary round win in the Division 3 bracket.

Belchertown will shift gears to top-seeded Weston in the Round of 32, which will take place on Friday at 4 p.m.

Girls lacrosse

Cohasset 16, Amherst 1 — The Hurricanes avoided the shutout, but the No. 1 seeded Skippers were too much to handle in the Round of 32 in Division 3.

Amherst finished out the season at 10-8.

Hingham 16, Northampton 0 — The Blue Devils were held off the board in their Round of 32 defeat in Division 2.

Northampton’s final record came in at 8-11.

Girls Tennis

Longmeadow 4, Amherst 1 — The Lancers were a thorn in the Hurricanes’ side all season, winning all four matches, including Wednesday’s Round of 32 showdown in Division 2.

Amherst’s season-ending defeat brought its overall record to 11-4.