By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – When the Bristol Central volleyball squad pinned a 3-0 decision over Bristol Central last Monday, the triumph by the Rams was the end of an era.
The Rams won by set scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-18 – winning for the first time over the Lancers since November 3, 1994.
The three game set sweep was the first over the Lancers since 1984 (that was also the year Central beat Eastern twice in the regular season but fell to the Lancers over postseason play).
And, since 1977, it was just Central’s ninth victory over Eastern.
That’s one heck of a ledger and a huge victory for the Central volleyball program.
It wasn’t easy
The Lancers refused to give in over all three sets on Monday night.
But every time Eastern made a run and inched closer, Central put a stop to it right away.
In the second set, Central went on a 15-5 run to capture a 20-10 edge.
Then Eastern went on the attack, thanks to several kills by Lauren Bender (16 kills) who helped her squad go on a 7-0 run.
But 20-17 was as close as the Lancers got to the lead, eventually falling by five (25-20).
“We struggled with that in the second set,” said Central coach Lance Pepper. “And we let them chip away, chip away. I think it was 20-17 by the time we got the ball back and we were able to close it out. The big thing with us is we have to be able to close out these games and sets. We did that tonight.”
Eastern trailed towards the end of all three sets and although the Kingstreeters battled to the end, it was an uphill climb against a surging Central program.
“It takes a lot of energy to come back and even more to kind of overcome that,” said Eastern coach Stefanie Reay.
Central has a game against Eastern
It was an incredible performance that the Rams put together to sweep the Lancers.
Brooke Valentino racked up a game-high 19 kills and proved to be a run-killer when Eastern was threatening.
She also collected a team-high five aces as her serving was on point throughout while on defense, Valentino posted eight digs.
Maddie Lodovico swung down eight kills, etched up four aces and added 14 digs as the senior did a little of everything.
Fellow senior Olivia Clingan posted a couple blocks from the frontline while adding four digs to the defensive effort.
Grace Higgins supplied six digs and Lily Kirk is going to be a good one as the freshmen tallied six kills, a couple aces, three digs and plenty of energy.
Sam Sklenka bumped up everything she could, collecting 19 overall, and hustled along the back line to help set up the offense.
“We played so together, and we played like a team,” said Sklenka. “We all really wanted this win. Just to come together and pull it off, it’s just the best feeling in the world.”
Junior setting sensation Alex Rivera – recently celebrating her 1,000th all-time assist for the Central program – roped in 10 digs and dished out 28 assists.
She directed traffic on the court like a pro – helping the squad generate 36 kills overall.
And don’t forget her leadership component as she got the ball where it needed to be the entire evening.
“The growth she’s made from sophomore year to now is incredible,” said Pepper of Rivera. “She’s becoming a leader. Her hands, I’m going to be honest, are probably some of the best in the state. She’s only a junior and she demands control of the floor. Her IQ has gone through the roof as far as what she needs to do and I can’t credit her and the all the girls enough for the hard work, not only in the off-season, but obviously once the season started as well.”
