Warriors Advance to Quarterfinals by Vetoing Presidents, 3-0

By Eliot Schickler

For the first time in a long time, the Brookline High girls’ volleyball team advanced to the third round of the Division 1 playoffs.

Although Brookline Athletic Director Kyle Williams doesn’t know for sure, and current Warriors Coach Caitlin Sobolewski hasn’t been with the program in any capacity for more than three years (first year as an assistant and the last two as head coach), Brookline’s last foray into the Elite 8 was more than 10 years ago – at a minimum.

The second-seeded Warriors achieved this feat with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-14) home victory over 15th-seeded Quincy High on Wednesday, November 6, to raise their record to 17-3. Quincy ended its season at 18-4.

“It feels like a great thing we accomplished, and it shows how much we grew as a team,” Warriors senior tri-captain Serina Ohyama said. “It demonstrates how hard we work.”

Sobolewski said, “It feels great. We battled and stuck with it, which is good volleyball. I’m pleased with how we showed up and played together.”

Unlike
Brookline’s opening round victory where it was never tested by Cambridge Rindge & Latin on November 2, things were vastly different at Schluntz Gym than it was four days earlier. The
Presidents kept each set much closer and made the Warriors earn the victory, which the hostesses were able to do in the end.

“Quincy was very scrappy, and got to our hits that would have normally been a kill against other teams,” Sobolewski said. “It was nice to see how we responded. What we need is to be focused on how we play, and play with resiliency. We proved we can play with these historically strong teams, and do really well.”

It all started for Brookline with its strong back row play and defense. Quincy’s defense wasn’t the only team to prevent kills. The Warriors were just as – if not more proficient than the Presidents
were in robbing the opposing hitters.

Junior libero Maya Nock has sparkled in this role since moving from defensive specialist since Sobolewski began utilizing junior Bella Bacon at outside hitter, who is very athletic and versatile. Nock hit the floor in robbing Quincy many times, finishing with 15 digs and 18 receptions. Although Bacon is now an outside hitter, she showed plenty of her prowess as the previous libero in diving hard to the ground rob the Presidents, finishing with nine digs and 12 receptions.

“I was trying to be consistent, stay on my toes, and watch the opposing hitters,” Bacon said.

Nock (four assists, one service ace, one kill) and Bacon’s classmate, Emilie Ferdinand, who has led the team in kills all year, also did a great job in preventing kills with excellent serve-receive play.
Ferdinand finished the match with 12 receptions and four digs.

“I had to stay on my toes and be ready to react,” Ferdinand said.

Junior Josie Ross, who solely plays in the back row, also helped defensively, and had a dig.

Also playing well defensively for the Warriors were sophomore lefty setter Nora Mullen who not only deftly sets up her hitters for kills, but she also did a stellar job in fending off opposing hitters with 10 digs.

While Mullen did well on defense, her biggest contributions was adroitly quarterbacking the offense. The southpaw setter finished with 28 assists and displayed her smarts, which would rival a veteran setter, in spreading out the offense while maintaining her poise.

“I communicate with my hitters every game, and I let them know what play I want to run,” Mullen said. “They have a tall middle hitter, and the coaches want us to hit it away from her, and wanted us to distract her.”

Not counting Nock’s one impromptu kill, which gave her a 100 percent hitting rate, sophomore Molly Tipton was Mullen’s most consistent option as far as finishing the play went. Tipton finished the match with nine kills on 12 hitting attempts for a whopping 75 percent hitting rate while only committing one hitting error – including the clincher in the first set.

“I was injured this week, and I was excited to come back, so I owe my kills and swings to Nora,” Tipton said.

The 5’11 outside hitter Tipton didn’t play much in the first round win over Cambridge, but she didn’t show any rust against Quincy. Her strong performance didn’t surprise Mullen, and knew she could count on her classmate to deliver for the team.

“Molly is a great hitter, and she had many great hits,” Mullen said. “She’s really a great all-around player, and she really showed it tonight.

Although Mullen had only one ace, she was proficient with her 10 serves and always gave Brookline a chance to score whenever she put the ball in play, finishing the match with zero service errors. She opened the second set with two straight service points.

“A lot of practice, and I visualize how I want to serve the ball,” Mullen said. “When I’m behind the service line, I focus on what I need to do.’

The Presidents hung tough and took a two-point lead on two occasions, 5-3, and 7-5, starting with two service aces from senior Ella Roche. They took their second two-point advantage on senior Alyssa Hopps’ block.

Following a side-out, Tipton (two service aces) put the Warriors back in front with two service points, making it 8-7. Ferdinand helped the 6’2 junior middle hitter Stasya Budnik (seven kills, one block) come up with the block for the equalizer.

“I’ve been working a lot on my blocking,” Ferdinand said.

Brookline took the lead with Mullen setting up Ferdinand’s (eight kills, one block) kill for Tipton’s second straight service point. Hopps tied it with a kill to end Brookline’s 5’11 sophomore’s service run, but the Warriors reclaimed the lead with Mullen again setting up a Ferdinand kill.

“Nora gives me good sets all the time,” Ferdinand said.

After Ferdinand (four service aces) gave the Warriors a 9-8 lead, she added two service points, starting with an ace.

However, Quincy wouldn’t quit. Senior 6’3 middle hitter Destiny Francis cut the deficit to one, 13-12 with a tip kill, and sophomore Rory Kennedy served the equalizer, 13-13, which Brookline hit into the net. Kennedy didn’t add another service point because the Warriors have a strong Class of 2027. Mullen set up Tipton’s pulsating kill, which gave Brookline a 14-13 edge, a lead it wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the set.

Although the 5’11 wasn’t credited with a block, her front row defense made it tough for Francis and the other tall Presidents.

“She definitely has skills, but I focused on my game,” Ohyama said.

Bacon (four aces) then delivered four service points, starting with two aces, to give the Warriors breathing room, 18-13. The aces were of a different variety, the first one going deep, and the second one which bounced off the net and landed perfectly on the ground.

“I tried to be consistent and get my serves in,” Bacon said.

The best the Presidents could do was cut their deficit to four points, the last one at 20-16 on Hopps’ kill, but the Warriors responded. Budnik (three aces, two digs, one block, one assist) figured in Brookline’s last three points, first with a kill from Mullen to force a side-out, which made it 23-17, and followed by two service points. She had only one service error in 11 serves for a 90.9 percent success rate.

Mullen set up an Ohyama (three kills) kill for the 24th point, and Bacon’s kill for the clincher. Bacon led the Warriors in kills with 10.

“Nora did a great job of getting me the ball,” Bacon said.

Nock (three aces, four assists) helped Brookline’s service game with only one error in 14 serves for a 92.9 success rate in putting the ball in play. The libero served two points to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead in the third set. Tipton (one block, one dig, one reception) had a block for the first point, and Mullen set up Ferdinand’s kill for the second marker.

“I was really focused on my defense,” Tipton said.

Quincy never quit and tied the set four times, the last one at 10-10 on sophomore Francesca Diaz’ service point. However, Diaz wasn’t able to add another service point because the lefty Mullen’s
picturesque set to Ohyama produced a kill to force a side-out.

The southpaw Mullen then served three straight points, closing her stretch of success with an ace, which gave Brookline a 14-10 advantage. She also set up Tipton’s kill for a point, and after a Warrior side-out, she set up Tipton’s kill to force a Quincy side-out.

This set the stage for Bacon, who proceeded to break it open with four service points, including two aces, to make it 19-11. Francis ended Bacon’s surge with a kill, but the Presidents couldn’t further capitalize.

Quincy scored its last point on sophomore lefty Evie Catrambone’s tip kill, which made it 21-14. President senior Zoe Scibelli got her subsequent serve in, and her hitters delivered a kill that was about to drop, but Nock robbed her with a dig and return landed for the kill to force a side-out.

Ferdinand than served the next three points to close out Quincy, starting with an ace.

“I was glad I could finish the game serving,” Ferdinand said.

The final point was secured with Mullen setting up Bacon's kill.

“We knew very little about them going in, but we played with a lot of energy and maintained our energy for the match, which helped us prevail,” Ohyama said.