By Michael Letendre
On December 9, the Connecticut High School Coaches Association announced its 2020 All-State Girls Volleyball teams.
Voting for the squads was concluded on December 5 and by the time all the counts were made, four players from Bristol were named to the first and second squads.
On the Class L First Team, Bristol Eastern’s Zoe Lowe and Leah Chipman made the list while, Central’s Emily Ericson was also named to the squad.
Also for the Lancers, Ryley Plourde earned CHSCA Class L Second Team All State honors.
And all four seniors did Bristol scholastic volleyball extremely proud as the teams combined to lose just two matches.
Lowe had one heck of a scholastic career, smashing down over 1,000 kills with 170 of those coming over a condensed 2020 season.
But it all wasn’t front line play as Lowe also collected 126 digs, 50-plus aces, and even chipped in 21 assists.
She shined in the postseason with 24 kills against Avon and added another 16 against Farmington to close out her career.
On October 15, Lowe rained down a career-high 15 aces versus Plainville while tallying 15-plus digs in four matches.
And in Eastern’s final contest against Central this season, Lowe bumped up five assists.
Over the last two regular seasons, Eastern was undefeated and Lowe’s power game was a huge part of that success.
This was the third straight year Lowe made the All-State team.
She earned second team honors as a sophomore while taking home the first team award as a junior and senior.
To put it mildly, Florida Southern University is getting a multi-talented, highly skilled, intelligent athlete that could even moonlight on the school’s softball squad if she wanted.
Chipman directed traffic with the best setters in the state during 2020 – angling up 401 assists and did a little of everything for the Eastern program.
She’s been outstanding over her four seasons which saw the senior finish her scholastic career with a CCC Region B title and 1,233 career assists.
Chipman also compiled 72 digs and improved her serving, adding 26 aces to the till.
She also added 11 kills this season, posting three of those in two different matches while zipping in five aces in the playoff game against Avon.
Chipman had two matches of 11 digs and averaged over nine assists-per-set this year.
She had three matches of 41-plus assists with a season best 48 coming in that postseason war with Avon.
The CCC South All-Conference setter in 2019 is going to help out a colligate program next season as she’s looking at schools from Connecticut, New Jersey and beyond.
Ericson, the excellent outside hitter from Central, is a four year varsity performer and easily led the team in kills with 203 – an average of 4.2 kills-per-set.
She also collected 30 aces, 10 blocks, and 82 digs as the senior had a big season for the Rams.
Ericson compiled 529 kills over her last three scholastic campaigns and totaled nearly 300 digs over that same stretch.
She had 23-plus kills in three matches including a 25-kill gem in Central’s first challenge against Avon on October 1.
Ericson also dropped a season-high six aces on the Falcons in that first Avon showdown, blocked three shots against Eastern the second time around and had four matches of double-figure dig totals.
There’s volleyball in her blood and any collegiate program would be pleased as punch to have Ericson on its roster.
And then on the All State second team, the well-spoken Plourde was one of the reason’s why the Lancers’ program went 13-0 this year.
The middle hitter zipped up 114 kills and was a tough defender at the net on the flip side.
Plourde added 19 aces, was second on the squad in blocks with 14, and zipped up 18 digs over another very busy campaign.
Her 18-kill game in the rematch against Central was a season best, while she nabbed four double-figure kill totals over her final scholastic matches.
Plourde added six aces in Eastern’s postseason win against Avon while rejecting three shots against that very same squad.
In two matches against Central, she tallied 10 total digs.
2020 CHSCA All-State Girls Volleyball Teams – Class L
First team
Leah Chipman, Bristol Eastern, Senior
Zoe Lowe, Bristol Eastern, Senior
Emily Ericson, Bristol Central, Senior
Emma Appleman, Guilford, Senior
Ana Castro-Rodriguez, Masuk, Senior
Kaylin Hadley, RHAM, Senior
Juliet Young, Guilford, Senior
Second team
Ryley Plourde, Bristol Eastern, Senior
Alexandra Ferriouolo, North Haven, Senior
Kaylee Jackson, Naugatuck, Junior
Jenna Koonitsky, St. Joseph, Senior
Madison Massaro-Cook, Newington, Senior
Hannah Mullaney, RHAM, Senior
Kelli Raines, Avon, Senior
