By Michael Letendre
The Central Connecticut Conference’s 2021 Girls Volleyball Tournament has lost all four of its top seeds after the completion of the quarterfinal play.
And the excellent squad from Bristol Eastern is ¼ responsible for those upsets.
In quarterfinal action on Tuesday, the Lancers went on the road to topple second ranked Conard, 3-2, to advance to the semifinals.
Set scores were 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, and 15-11.
Eastern moved to 16-5 off the winning effort while the crew from West Hartford fell to 17-2.
Hannan Webber ramped up 41 kills to go along with nine digs and five aces over a tremendous five-game effort.
Setter Abby Jones dished out 51 assists, 13 digs and four aces while Sarah Lacouture bumped up 19 digs as Eastern got its revenge against Conard.
What does the win by Eastern mean?
The victory gives the Lancers a well-deserved day off on Wednesday.
And then on Thursday, Eastern battles No. 6 Glastonbury in the first match of a doubleheader from Simsbury high school.
Game time is at 4 p.m. with Southington/Simsbury to follow at 6 p.m.
The winner of each match advances to the finals on Saturday at 6 p.m., also from Simsbury, to determine the 2021 CCC Tournament champion.
Here’s how the bracket has gone so far:
Monday, November 1
Game 1 #1 RHAM versus #16 New Britain (at RHAM)
Results: RHAM won 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, and 25-6)
Game 2 #2 Conard versus #15 Platt (from West Hartford)
Results: Conard swept Platt, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-23)
Game 3 #3 EO Smith versus #14 Farmington
Results: Smith nabbed a 3-0 victory over Farmington
Game 4 #4 Maloney versus #13 East Catholic
Results: Maloney needed four games to sink the Eagles (25-15,23-25,25-10,25-15)
Game 5 #5 Southington versus #12 East Hartford
Results: The Knights won, 3-0 (25-8, 25-18, 25-8)
Game 6 #6 Glastonbury versus #11 Bristol Central (20-25,25-19,27-25,23-25,15-12)
Results: Glastonbury was taken to the limit by Central, 3-2
Game 7 #7 Bristol Eastern versus #10 Plainville
Results: The Lancers won easily, 3-0 (25-4, 25-16, 25-11)
Game 8 #8 South Windsor versus #9 Simsbury
Results: Simsbury won over a 3-2 upset
Tuesday, November 2 – Quarterfinal Round
Game 9 #1 RHAM versus #9 Simsbury (at RHAM)
Results: In the upset of the year, Simsbury won, 3-2 (26-24, 8-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11)
Game 10 #2 Conard versus #7 Bristol Eastern (at West Hartford)
Results: In another upset, the Lancers defeated Conard, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11)
Game 11 #3 Edwin O. Smith versus #6 Glastonbury (from Storrs)
Results: Another top seed was defeated as the Panthers fell 3-0 (25-7, 25-6, 25-13)
Game 12 #4 Maloney versus #5 Southington (from Francis T. Maloney high school, Meriden)
Results: It was 4-for-4 for the underdogs on Tuesday as the Knights defeated the Spartans, 3-1
