Girls volleyball: Smith Voc surpasses Norfolk County, moves on to Div. 5 Round of 8

NORTHAMPTON— The Smith Vocational girls volleyball team defeated Norfolk County Agricultural, 3-1, in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 on Wednesday night. The Vikings dropped the first set, but won the next three frames to punch their ticket to the Round of 8.

Set scores read 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18 in favor of the hosts.

Entering the second set down 1-0, the Vikings knew adjustments had to be made. Norfolk came into their home court and shocked the group with a competitive opening set.

Despite Smith Voc looking rattled, the team got together during the set intermission and gathered themselves.

“We’re home, we’ve got this,” Smith Voc head coach Ashley Clark told her team. “Take a deep breath and play your game.”

The message was received by the team, who scored the initial point of the second set and quickly got out to an 8-3 lead.

With limited self-inflicted mistakes, and a streak of great serving from Irelyn Marcoux, who finished with a team-high six aces, the Vikings fully took back the momentum they had lost early on. The junior added one block, nine digs and six kills throughout the match.

Throughout the match, momentum switched back and forth between the two teams, with Smith Voc seeming to always maintain a confident mindset.

“I think we did a really good job at making sure that we stopped their momentum before they got a snowball effect going,” Clark said.

The leaders for the Vikings stepped up and led the way throughout the night. Senior captain Roma Bentrewicz maintained a positive mindset, while setting up her teammates with a team-high 31 assists. She rounded out her productive match with one ace, nine digs and two kills.

Heidymar Diaz-Lopez also made her presence known, serving as one of the main finishers of her fellow captain’s assists. The senior was tied for a team-high 11 kills, along with 25 digs and three aces.

With the veterans paving the way, the rest of the Vikings followed suit, winning three sets in a row to take home the victory.

The final set of the match did have some drama before Smith Voc eventually came away with the win.

With their biggest lead of the entire match at 20-10, it seemed the Vikings would coast by to the state quarterfinal. The Aggie didn’t make it easy however, going on a streak and forcing Clark to call a timeout for her team.

“[The timeout] was to change their momentum and not ours,” Clark said. “It was a regroup of ours, and hopefully a killer of theirs.”

The timeout proved to do just what Clark intended, as her team got back on track and closed out the night with a 25-18 set victory to clinch the match.

With limited substitutions, Smith Voc needed everything out of its core players on Wednesday. The group rose to the occasion in the playoff matchup, making sure to put everything out on the court.

Behind the leadership of their two captains, some of the younger Vikings made a major impact. Junior Leah Franklin had 11 kills along with a team-high six blocks, along with three aces.

Freshman Rylie Rose was all over the place, finishing her day with one ace, 29 digs and six kills. Sophomore Hecmarie Diaz-Lopez helped form a solid line of defense on the backline, coming away with a team-high 37 digs, along with three aces and one assist.

With the victory, Smith Vocational moves on to the Round of 8, taking on No. 2-seeded Madison Park Technical.

“We can compete with them,” Clark said of the upcoming matchup. “I really hope that we just play our best game.”

The Vikings’ state quarterfinal match has not yet been scheduled, as of Wednesday evening.