By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The history between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern volleyball teams started in 1974 – the first year the squads met.
In that early city series encounter, from Bristol Central high school, the Rams defeated the Lancers two games to one.
Set scores were 18-17, 13-15, and 15-10.
Central was a year ahead of Eastern as a program but once the squads began to grow its rivalry, a pattern quickly emerged.
And since 1977, the Lancers always got to the pay window as Eastern put together a massive winning streak.
Coaching some of those teams for Eastern was Ruth Hewston while Central’s Ruthann ‘Foo’ Field (who also coached basketball, tennis, and softball) directed the charge for the Rams.
Eastern swept the matches in 1977 as 3-0 triumphs were the norm for the Lancers in several bouts against Central.
The first match saw the Lancers defeat the Rams by scores of 15-3, 15-4, and 15-9.
And as a historical reminder, all matches were contested to 15 points in scholastic volleyball for the entire 20th century and didn’t change until 2003 when set scores went up to 25 points.
That first win for Eastern in 1977 saw Karen O’Keefe and Lori Neddermann – two eventual Colonial Conference All-Conference picks – play extremely well while Cindy O’Keefe and Rita Chasse led the Rams.
In the rematch, tournament qualification was at stake for the Lancers and the Kingstreeters came away with a 15-7, 15-12, and 15-7 victory in a match that was much closer than the first.
Eastern moved to 9-6 on the campaign while Central fell to 5-9.
Beth Farrar led the charge with 13 points while Karen Carlson, Maurine Achille, O’Keefe and Neddermann played well for the Lancers over the shutout effort.
Chasse led the Rams with nine service points.
In 1978 and 1979, the matches were much more competitive but the end results were the same.
The Rams lost the first match between the schools in 1978 by a three-games-to-one score as Central took the first set but fell in the end (16-18, 15-11, 15-4, and 15-7).
Terry Wolf, Carol O’Regan and Carlson led the charge for Eastern while Greta Lorenson posted 18 service points over the Lancers’ win.
But Central pushed Eastern to a five-set challenge in the rematch, winning the first two sets (13-15 and 6-15) before dropping the last three games (15-6, 15-3, and 15-10) in a closely contested bout.
O’Regan added 17 service points for the victors while Central’s Kim Pavelec led all players with 21 points.
Eastern moved to 6-11 overall while Central fell to 4-11.
Both games in 1979 went 3-1 as the Lancers continued to build their winning streak against the Rams.
Set scores in Eastern’s first victory against Central were 15-8, 12-15, 15-8, and 15-8 over another highly competitive affair.
Maria Whiteman and Neddermann generated several kills for the Lancers while Terri Castonguay and Pavelec led the Rams.
The final BC/BE tilt of the 1970s saw Eastern spin Central by scores of 15-10, 15-6, 11-15, and 15-9 in a 3-1 loss.
The win improved Eastern to 8-7 overall while Central ended its season at 4-10.
Mary Adams and Kathy Huston led the charge offensively for the Lancers while Central’s Carleen Bernosky and Castonguay played well in defeat.
The decade of the 1980s saw Eastern nab early 3-0 sweeps against Central.
The 1980 bouts were quickly taken by the Lancers as Eastern won the first match of the year via scores of 15-0, 15-1, and 15-6 over a romp.
Kathy Klett tallied 15 service points in just the first set alone for the Lancers.
And when the teams took the court again in the rematch, Eastern was victorious again (15-3, 15-6, and 15-3) to move to 12-5 overall.
The Rams fell to 1-15.
Central was swept in its first Eastern encounter in 1981 by scores of 15-3, 15-10, and 15-11 behind the offense of Beth Kauke and Mary Adams.
But the rematch saw the Rams push the Lancers to four games before falling 15-11, 12-15, 15-4, and 15-3.
Eastern struggled overall in 1981 and by the following season, a new coach hit the floor at Eastern.
Her name was Gail Borkowski (Ericson) and 23 years later, she left an amazing legacy at the school.
She posted a 332-139 overall record, won five league titles, made 21 playoff appearances out of 23 seasons, and led the program to three state titles.
With Borkowski’s effort, energy, and overall knowledge of the sport of volleyball, the Kingstreeters were going to be an vastly improved bunch.
And the sweeps over the Rams continued into 1982-83 when the Lancers became a state contender in both volleyball in the fall and girls basketball over the winter seasons.
Match one in 1982 against Central saw Maureen O’Keefe, Becky Jackson, Marie Forman, and Chryss Watts dominate the Rams over a 15-2, 16-14, and 15-1 victory while the rematch saw the Eastern roll in consecutive sets (15-9, 15-5, and 15-12).
The Lancers ended the season at 11-7 and were Class A tournament bound.
Central continued its winless streak against Eastern in 1983 when the Rams managed just 33 total points over six sets against the Lancers.
Match one saw Eastern rumble up scores of 15-4, 15-4, and 15-7 with Sheila Reidy, Christine Borkowski, O’Keefe, Watts, and Kauke making all the big plays for the Lancers.
Eastern also won the second showdown by scores of 15-1, 15-7, and 15-10 with Christine Borkowski collecting 15 service points to lead the Lancers.
Eastern went 13-5 in regular season play, was ranked fifth in the Class M fray, and made it all the way to the finals before falling to No. 2 Branford by a 3-0 push (15-4, 15-10, and 15-9) in the Class B title game.
That season, the Lancers finished play at 16-6 and became the first squad in the Mum City to make an appearance in the volleyball championship round.
From 1977 to 1983, Eastern generated 14 straight victories over Central before the Lancers’ championship clash.
But from there, the Rams had its best stretch of success against the Lancers over seven matches in the mid-1980s.
The volleyball adventures between Central and Eastern will continue in The Bristol Edition in our next installment.
