By Michael Letendre 

The Bristol Central/Bristol Eastern volleyball city series battles went on for quite sometime, starting in 1997, with the Lancers usually capturing victory over three straight sets – rarely having to play a fourth (or fifth) game against the Rams.

It’s all part of a 53-match winning streak that Eastern currently enjoys over Central.

But the Rams managed to stave off a sweep more than a time or two against the Lancers.

There were four-set Central/Eastern matches in 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2002 which included a weird showdown between the teams on October 3, 2001.

Set scores were 15-6, 0-15, 15-0 and 15-12 in one of the strangest scoring matches in city series history that saw both squads shutout the other during game play.

But the rematch on October 25, 2001 saw the Lancers shut down the Rams over consecutive sets (15-8, 15-5, and 15-10).

And that’s how things went between the programs for quite sometime with the Lancers dominating and the Rams struggling.

With JV coach Linda Evans filling in for Eastern’s Gail Ericson during the 2002 campaign, those scores never changed.

The Lancers zipped up a 3-1 win over the Rams on October 2 (15-11, 15-10, 11-15, and 15-7) and then swept Central (15-6, 15-3, and 15-6) in the rematch on October 25.

In 2003, scholastic volleyball changed to a 25-point scoring format but in terms of BC/BE volleyball entanglements, it was the same, predictable results.

On Wednesday, October 6, Ericson roped up her 300th career victory in Eastern’s 3-0 blanking of Central (25-12, 25-4, and 25-7).

Stef Aboagye dropped in nine kills while Kate Brunet added five for the Lancers on the historic evening.

Eastern’s second victory against Central came on October 28, 2004 in a 3-0 sweep over the Rams (25-14, 25-10, and 25-14), propelling the squad to a share of the CCC South title.

Brunet roped up 11 kills, Aboagye added eight while Taylor Losey – another future All-Stater – dropped in six kills to lead the Lancers.

Central showed some gumption in 2005 – the season Eastern swept Masuk (25-13, 25-10, and 25-16) to seize its first Class L title since 1991.

The Rams pushed Eastern to four sets in both matches but Central fell on October 5 (25-4, 25-11, 20-25, and 25-11) and then twenty-one days later, it was a clean sweep.

Eastern then went back to the Class L title game – closing out Central in consecutive 3-0 contests along the way – in 2006 as the Lancers swept East Lyme, 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, and 25-16) for another championship.

In 2007, the Lancers were finally defeated in the Class L title bout – dropping a 3-0 decision to Darien, a squad that ran off three consecutive  titles, but Eastern (23-2) added two more Central sweeps to its till.

In fact during one stretch during city series encounters, over 21 of 23 straight matches, Central fell to Eastern over consecutive sets.

Then the Rams had to tangle with the likes of Karissa Smith and Brianna Root – more All-State talent – and those Central showdowns continued to go 3-0 into the decade of 2010 but Jen Manzo’s crew from the school on the hill was certainly much improved. 

On October 29, 2010, Central pushed Eastern to a fourth set but behind 15 kills from Smith, the Lancers were 25-14, 23-25, 25-13, and 25-18 winners in the end.

Eastern snuck in another title run during those years, capturing the 2012 Class L championship in a neat 3-0 sweep of East Lyme (25-14, 25-18, and 25-21) as head coach Stacy Rivoira (Mills) won her second title at BEHS.

Fast forwarding to October 27, 2015, Central battled Eastern to another four-set war but Angela Daley and Bailey Wyrebek were too tough for the Rams’ squad to overcome.

And it took what seemed an eternity for the next five-set match between the squads but in 2017, the Rams and Lancers engaged in one heck of a battle.

But Eastern defeated Central, three-games-to-two, on October 26.

Set scores were 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, and 15-10 in a back-and-forth tilt from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium.

Freshman Zoe Lowe tallied 16 kills and 12 digs while Ali Rivoira dished out 35 assists for Eastern over the winning match.

Central’s Brianna Saverino nabbed 16 kills for the Rams.

And then on Monday, November 6, No. 18 Eastern had to open state tournament play at No. 15 Central in Class L action.

It was another one of those rare instances where Central (13-7 regular season) had a better record than Eastern (12-7) but the ultimate result was still the same.

The Lancers dropped the Rams (25-10, 26-24, and 25-12) for a three-match tournament sweep.

In 2018, Eastern claimed two additional victories over 3-0 and 3-1 scores.

But over the last two seasons, Central won six sets and saw two matches go the distance against Eastern.

The battle on October 8, 2019 went all five sets and had a couple wild games as Central coach Lance Pepper and Eastern mentor Stefanie Reay saw its squads leave it all on the court.

Set scores were 30-32, 27-25, 25-19, 23-25, and 15-13 in a match that had 14 lead changes and 35 ties but Eastern came away a 3-2 victor.

Kat Ross led Central with 11 kills while Lowe dropped in a match-high 21 kills.

And then finally on October 29 of this past year, Central had its best chance of knocking off Eastern since 1994.

It was an epic battle, seeing the Rams zip up a 2-1 lead before dropping the fourth and fifth sets in the end.

Eastern won 25-22, 27-29, 23-25, 25-18, and 15-10 to complete the regular season at a perfect 11-0.

Lowe ended her final regular season match with 19 kills and 19 digs while Emily Ericson collected 15 kills and 10 digs.

The victory for Eastern gave the program its 53rd straight win over Central.

It’s been such a one-sided series in Bristol, the only real suspense left could come during the fall of 2021.

Will the Lancers, due to graduate several veteran players, extend their streak over Central or will the Rams embark on a different quest that includes a victory (or two) against the Lancers?

Next October should be a very interesting month when the programs hit the court for the annual city series battle.