By Michael Letendre
It’s just about time for ‘Championship Saturday’ and that means one final showdown for the Bristol Central volleyball program.
There are only eight volleyball teams left playing in the state of Connecticut on Saturday – the final day of the sport in the state – and the Rams are one of those programs still standing.
This is a special day for Central, marking its first ever trip to the finals – squaring off against Class L state power and undefeated Joel Barlow (Region 9) from the small town of Redding.
And you can bet the Central core of Brooke Valentino, Olivia Clingan, Maddie Lodovico, Sam Sklenka, Alex Rivera, Grace Higgins, Lily Kirk and the entire team will be locked and loaded for this championship event.
Undefeated Barlow is one of two top seeds that qualified for ‘Championship Saturday’ while battle-tested Central, ranked seventh in the Class L fray, is the second lowest seed still alive in tournament play next to No. 14 Trumbull in the Class LL final.
Both programs carried regular season records of 14-6.
These Rams are hardly a Cinderella story and will simply look to take the match away from the top seed.
Here’s a quick look at both Class L powers as the state title game is upon us:
Class L Volleyball Championship Capsule
No. 1 Joel Barlow (23-0) versus No. 7 Bristol Central (19-7)
Date: Saturday, November 19
Location: East Haven High School
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Head Coaches: Carol Asplund (Joel Barlow); Lancer Pepper (Bristol Central).
Class L Volleyball – Joel Barlow and Bristol Central versus the field:
First Round
No. 1 Joel Barlow – Bye; Bristol Central 3, Ledyard 0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-11).
Second Round
Joel Barlow 3, Ellington 0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-7); Bristol Central 3, Edwon O. Smith 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-9).
Quarterfinals
Joel Barlow 3, Platt 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-10); Bristol Central 3, Suffield 1 (25-10, 25-8, 10-25, 25-16).
Semifinals
Joel Barlow 3, Woodstock Academy 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-13); Bristol Central 3, East Lyme 1 (25-15, 25-15, 22-25, 25-17).
Players to Watch: Bristol Central – Brooke Valentino (sr. outside hitter, 276 kills, 45 aces, 260 digs), Grace Higgins (so. right side, 94 kills, 63 aces, 149 digs), Lily Kirk (fr. middle blocker, 103 kills, 38 aces, 40 blocks, 59 digs), Olivia Clingan (sr. middle blocker, 160 kills, 50 aces, 72 blocks, 80 digs), Maddie Lodovico (sr. outside hitter, 206 kills, 25 blocks, 71 aces, 276 digs), Alex Rivera (jr. setter, 60 aces, 235 digs, 746 assists), Sam Sklenka (sr. libero, 448 digs, 24 assists).
Players to Watch: Joel Barlow – Libby Grob (sr. outside hitter, 235 kills, 193 digs), Katherine Czerkawski (sr. outside hitter, 212 kills, 199 digs), Mackenzie Sickenger (jr. middle hitter, 132 kills, 56 blocks), Elyssa Kalamaras (jr. middle back, 132 kills, 49 blocks), Emmy Asplund (sr, 120 kills, 242 digs, 719 assists), Sarah Mauro (sr. 77 aces, 211 digs).
Bristol Edition Prediction: I refuse to make these predictions for any other scholastic sport in my TBE stories. However, here is one for volleyball. Central is going to take this match and win the Class L championship against Joel Barlow three games to two.
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