By Mike Letendre
If your second best scholastic girls volleyball program in town is sitting on just one loss, that’s a pretty impressive ledger.
And while the Bristol Eastern volleyball program gets a lot of the publicity in town, the girls at Bristol Central deserve some overdue credit.
The Rams, led by second year coach Lance Pepper, have been a model of consistency.
Sure, year in and year out, squads like RHAM, Maloney and Eastern are always at the top of the rankings, but over the last couple years, the Rams have climbed into contention.
At 7-1, Central is in second place in the CCC, Region 2 standings.
Over Central’s seven wins to date, Avon was the only team to extend the locals to the brink this season.
That was an epic five-set war from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol with the Rams pulling out an huge 3-2 victory behind game scores of 24-26, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, and 15-9.
The Rams are currently on a six-match winning streak and could make it seven with a victory over Plainville on Monday before tangling with Eastern on Thursday, Oct. 29.
This time around, the Rams will enjoy the spoils of home court and should give the Lancers its toughest test to date.
It will also allow Central a chance to defeat Eastern for the first time since 1994.
But taking the first Eastern loss out of the equation, it’s been all Rams this season.
From Oct. 5 through Oct. 22, Central has defeated Southington twice by 3-1 scores, Farmington by the same tally while shutting out Plainville, New Britain and Lewis Mills 3-0.
Currently, Central is ranked in the top 25 in the state according to the latest poll from MaxPreps.
The Rams are 24th in the poll and gelled into a strong offensive and defensive unit.
Like Eastern, Central is built senior strong behind the likes of Brooke Soucy, Kayla St. Onge, Destiny Potter, Jadyn Bauer, Gwenyth Torreso and Emily Ericson.
Also contributing to the season are junior Destinee Craft and sophomore Maddie Lodovico.
Ericson, with that tremendous volleyball pedigree, is currently third in the state in kills with 123.
Against Avon on Oct. 1, Ericson belted the Falcons for a season best 25 kills while dropping down 23 against Farmington on Oct. 19.
She also tallied 18 kills in the loss at Bristol Eastern on Oct. 3 and collected that same number in the Rams’ 3-1 victory over Southington last Thursday.
Through seven matches, Ericson also tallied 44 digs, 19 aces and blocked five shots over very well-rounded efforts.
Torreso is a nifty setter and is one of the state leader’s in assists with 220.
In that five-set battle against Avon, Torreso roped up 40 assists while adding 30 or more in two other matches this year.
Torreso also complied 26 digs, six aces and five kills over a busy season of play.
St. Onge has given support up front, posting 30 kills including three matches of six kills.
Against Lewis Mills on Oct. 15, she had four aces and tallied a three block game against Avon.
Soucy has done a tremendous job in serve-receive, collecting 81 digs, while adding 213 serve receptions.
On the serving front, she dropped in nine aces, adding a three ace game versus Farmington while posting 45 total digs over her first two matches.
Bauer added 22 kills, 13 aces, and 11 digs over her first seven matches while Potter added 20 digs to the effort.
Craft has been a pleasant surprise, posting 15 kills, 12 blocks and a .345 hitting percentage.
She tallied five kills against both Avon and Lewis Mills while zipping up two-plus kills in four matches.
Lodovico is a talented sophomore – leading the team in blocked shots with 13.
Defense can never be underestimated on the court.
Her stats include 17 kills, 16 digs, and five aces.
Lodovico had a five kill/five dig game against Southington the first time around in a big spark for the program.
Central ends the regular season with a date against Plainville Monday, battles Bristol Eastern Thursday while tangling with New Britain on Monday, Nov. 2.
Those three matches take place from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium while the Rams’ final bout of the year comes at Lewis Mills on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The Rams also have a chance at winning Region 2 if the program can someway, somehow get by the Lancers.
