By Michael Letendre
CROMWELL – The Bristol Central volleyball team is championship bound for the first time in program history.
And the locals certainly looked like a title contender after the seventh ranked Rams throttled No. 3 East Lyme over a 3-1 triumph in a Class L semifinal showdown on Wednesday night from the Jake Salafia Gymnasium on the campus of Cromwell High School.
Set scores were 25-15, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-17 as Central now has just one last test to pass.
“It’s just crazy,” said Central’s Maddie Lodovico. “There’s no emotion that I could put to it. I’m just so proud of my team and everything that we accomplished this season and I think Saturday we are just going to prove it.”
Central will contend for the Class L title on Championship Saturday, squaring off against undefeated top seed Joel Barlow (23-0) – from East Haven High School at 1 p.m.
There wasn’t much a tremendous East Lyme (19-7) squad could do on Wednesday evening against the Rams as Olivia Clingan (seven kills, five blocks, six digs), Brooke Valentino (10 kills, two blocks, 17 digs), Grace Higgins (seven kills, two aces, 12 digs), Lodovico (12 kills, two aces, 13 digs) and explosive freshman Lily Kirk (11 kills, two blocks) absolutely crushing the ball returned everything over the net with zest.
Those vicious swings by Central’s frontline overwhelmed the Vikings’ defense and when serve receive became an issue at times for the second ranked squad, the locals took advantage.
Defensively, Central seemingly bumped up every East Lyme return with libero Sam Sklenka (22 digs, three assists) and crew getting the ball over to setter Alex Rivera (43 assists, 17 digs, two aces) who ended the match with more floor burns than any other player that evening.
“I couldn’t ask for any more out of those kids,” said Central coach Lance Pepper of his squad.
All five lead changes and 11 ties that night mainly came over third period play when the Vikings were able to turn a late 21-20 deficit into and eventual 25-22 win – making it a 2-1 match.
“They came back with a great fight,” said Sklenka of East Lyme. “They’re a very good team and they really proved that in the third set.”
But after a 4-4 tie in set four, once Central took its first lead in the tilt, East Lyme never got it back.
“I’m going to be honest, at Bristol Central, I think a lot of people didn’t think this was ever possible,” said Pepper of the semifinal round win. “You hear of a lot of teams across the state and our team is finally getting the recognition it deserves…we’re clicking at the right time.”
Rivera slick serving over the first set established the tone as Central raced out to a 4-0 edge and simply never looked back.
In the middle of the set, off slick serving by Kirk, Rivera found Clingan for a loud swing and when the freshman dropped in an ace, the Rams held a 12-7 push.
The Vikings trimmed the deficit to three moments later but a 7-0 Central burst, highlighted by a Lodovico ace and a couple kills from Clingan, gave the team a 22-12 cushion.
To end the first set, Rivera flipped up a short stack assist to Kirk who absolutely jammed the ball over the net as the set point propelled Central to the 25-15 victory.
In the second stanza, it was more of the same.
This time around, Clingan had an early block and off a miscue by the Vikings, Central scooped up a quick 8-1 edge.
From there, East Lyme got it no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Midway through the set, Higgins made a loud kill from the right side, Rivera tallied another ace, Lodovico added a loud swing and when Clingan blocked another shot, Central’s lead grew to 19-11.
“Our serve-receive was good today,” said Pepper. “We were on.”
A couple slick shots by Valentino from the left extended the lead to 11 late before the senior smoked a ball down on the Vikings’ side of the floor for set point as the Rams won once again by the same 25-15 score.
Trailing 2-0 going into the third set, the Vikings finally got some consistent play on the court to get into contention.
“East Lyme is a very talented program,” said Pepper. “They’re resilient and their libero [Skylar Bell] is phenomenal. We got in their head a little bit in the first sets I believe. Again, a lot of credit to East Lyme. They didn’t fold and a lot of teams would have folded in that situation.”
East Lyme led by three early in the third frame, but Lodovico generated a couple kills to make it an 8-8 game.
Bell (28 digs) started to get her hands on the ball for the Vikings – helping the offense to churn.
Midway through the third, East Lyme setter Shae McMunn (25 assists) found Addison Soleau (10 kills) for consecutive kills, helping her squad to a 14-10 lead.
But that edge was eventually erased as a kill from Kirk, coupled by a Valentino ace, gave Central an 18-16 push.
Neither team could snare the momentum as five ties from that point of the set that put the see-saw period in doubt until the very end.
With the teams knotted at 22-22, two Central miscues – sandwiched around a kill by Soleau – gave the Vikings to a three-point third set win to trim the match deficit to 2-1.
But the comeback was squashed in the fourth and final set by the surging Rams.
“I think our energy just got the best of us,” said Lodovico of the third set. “We came off two great first sets and we came out thinking ‘oh, we’re just going to sweep them.’ And they showed us that they could play just as hard as we can. We just had to prove that we were able to come back even stronger in the fourth set.”
Off a 4-4 stalemate, Central went on a 7-1 dash and when Kirk blocked a shot, the Rams had a 12-5 lead in hand.
The Vikings hung around, trailing 15-12 midway through the fourth, before one final push did-in the No. 2 seed for good.
A perfect corner kill from Higgins cued a 6-0 burst by Central – mixed in with a Lodovico ace and a Clingan block – to propel the squad to a 21-12 cushion.
Soon after, Kirk dropped in another kill from the middle and off a Higgins serve that was not returnable, Central was sitting on match point and the Central faithful stood and cheered from court side.
And Central’s freshman sensation delivered the final point as Kirk absolutely decked the ball over the net from the middle to end it as the team raced onto the court to celebrate its first ever Class L semifinal victory – heading to East Haven on Saturday for a championship date behind the 25-17 win in game four.
“You never want to peak at the beginning of the season, and I think we’re in stride right now,” said Pepper. “The possibilities are endless.”
“I’m just living in the moment right now.”
CLASS L VOLLEYBALL – Semifinal Match
No. 7 BRISTOL CENTRAL 3, No. 3 EAST LYME 1
from the Jake Salafia Gymnasium, Cromwell High School
Set Scores: 25-15, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-17
Lead Changes: Five
Ties: 11
Highlights – Bristol Central: Brooke Valentino, 10 kills, two blocks, 17 digs; Olivia Clingan, seven kills, five blocks, six digs; Maddie Lodovico, 12 kills, two aces, 13 digs; Grace Higgins, seven kills, two aces, 12 digs; Alex Rivera, 43 assists, 17 digs, two aces; Sam Sklenka, 22 digs, three assists; Lily Kirk, 11 kills, two blocks.
Highlights – East Lyme: Skylar Bell, 28 digs; Shae McMunn, 25 assists; Addison Soleau, 10 kills.
Records: Bristol Central 19-7 overall; East Lyme 19-7.
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