[VIDEO] Volleyball Team Dominates in Playoff Opener

NARRAGANSETT – In its playoff opener, the Narragansett girls’ volleyball team made quick work of Warwick Veterans High School, quelling the Hurricanes 3-0 in less than an hour Thursday night.

The Mariners won 25-19, 25-9 and 25-14, and subbed frequently at the halfway points of the second and third games. Narragansett (13-2, 12-2 Division II-South) will play at West Warwick Monday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Like many other lower-record teams the Mariners have played this year, the Hurricanes (7-9, 7-7 Division II-North) had no answer for Narragansett sophomore Gabrielle Leclerc and junior Hannah Maymon. At one point in the third game, the Mariners scored 15 straight points, with most coming on serves by Leclerc.

She said her serving has been something she has worked on lately.

“I’m focusing more on the arm swing than the jump now,” she said, adding that during a long streak, she thinks to herself, “The next one, I need to be more accurate.”

While Narragansett head coach Joni Stern-Lonczak said she was initially disappointed the team didn’t earn a bye, in retrospect she said it probably helped the Mariners. Narragansett’s last two regular season games –Rogers and Fatima – featured teams with a combined 2-26 record.

Stern-Lonczak said she could see the improvement in her team, noting that they’ve gelled through the season and in practice recently.

“We played them [Vets] in the preseason, and they gave us a little better match,” she said. “I think [the Mariners] just needed to see how this group played … Once they saw the play style, they took control.”

Stern-Lonczak also praised the complete games of Maymon and Leclerc. Commenting on Leclerc’s serving, she said it was something she had worked hard on in practice the past three days.

Leclerc finished with 15 aces, according to stats kept by Narragansett. The serves also kept defenders off balance, making for easy returns and attacks by the Mariners. Maymon finished with 11 kills.

The next challenge for the team will be the West Warwick Wizards, at 6 p.m. Monday in West Warwick. The Wizards also finished 12-2 in Division II, but earned a bye over the Mariners because of a +2 advantage in games, 39-37.

Stern-Lonczak said she hadn’t really gotten a chance to see the Wizards play yet. However, Leclerc said she knew a few of the individual player’s games from AAU volleyball.

If the Mariners win, they would play the winner of No. 1 Exeter-West Greenwich and No. 8 Pilgrim.

In a fortunate bit of scheduling, the neutral site location is Keaney Gym at the University of Rhode Island. The match would be 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Division II finals are 3 p.m. Saturday at Keaney.