By Michael Letendre 

It feels like the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern volleyball teams just played that amazing 3-2 city series bout – a contest the Lancers won – just yesterday.

That epic, played back on Sept. 28, was a two-and-a-half-hour war but was a pleasure to behold over a tip-and-tuck bout.

There were so many twists and turns in that first showdown with the Rams grabbing a 2-0 lead before dropping the final three games to lose the match by one.

And, frankly, anything could have happened in that city series showdown.

Central sophomore Lily Kirk (13 kills against Eastern) was injured that night but recently made her return to the court and is looking forward to the rematch.

Grace Higgins (13 kills) nearly got the Rams over the hump but the Eastern combination of Adrianna Reay (34 kills) and Gabby Caucci (18 kills) simply went into overdrive that evening.

Two tremendous setters: Eastern’s Naseem Hennouch (50 assists) and Central’s Alex Rivera (35 assists) made all the right plays while Andrea Martir-Perez (25 digs) and Daigelis Figueroa (48 digs) helped to make plenty of returns for their respective teams.

The match is once again going to be of epic proportions and would another five-set match really be so surprising?

Let’s take a quick look at Monday’s exciting rematch:

Bristol Central (11-6) at Bristol Eastern (11-5)   

Time: The last regular season match at home for the Lancers is slated for 6 p.m. 

Location: Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium (BEHS) 

What’s on the line? It’s not just bragging rights but Class L state tournament seeding at stake in the epic. Currently, Eastern is rated seventh while Central isn’t far behind in 10th place in the Class L standings – once again a loaded field.

Last match between the programs: 

BRISTOL EASTERN 3, BRISTOL CENTRAL 2  

from the Pepper Dome, Bristol

Set Scores: 23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 15-12

Lead changes: 13

Ties: 18

Highlights – Bristol Eastern: Adrianna Reay 34 kills, 24 digs, four aces, two blocks; Gabby Caucci 18 kills, 22 digs, two aces; Andrea Martir-Perez three aces, 25 digs; Samara Paranzino two kills, six digs; Savannah Drury 10 digs; Kamila Mateo-Rivera two blocks; Naseem Hennouch 50 assists, 19 digs; Bristol Central: Grace Higgins 13 kills,  27 digs; Lily Kirk 13 kills, two aces, 14 digs; Isabella Alves six kills, two aces, four blocks, two digs; Lily Hinton three digs; Emily Fontaine five kills, three digs; Daigelis Figueroa three kills, 48 digs(!); Leah Sklenka two kills, eight digs; Alex Rivera 35 assists, two kills, two blocks, 9 digs.

Records: Bristol Eastern 6-3 overall; Bristol Central 5-2.

Central’s season to date since losing to Bristol Eastern (6-4 record) – Central was 5-1 before dropping that hard-fought decision to Eastern.  

The Rams dropped four tough matches to Farmington, RHAM and Simsbury (3-0) and also fell to Glastonbury (3-1), taking on all challengers between matches against the Kingstreeters.

Before the Glastonbury setback, Central had won three straight contests.

Higgins leads the squad with 188 kills and 30 aces while Alves has 57 kills along with 17 blocks.

Figueroa 388 digs and Rivera, Central’s outstanding floor general, has 448 assists to date.

Don’t forget about Kirk because she’s back – dropping 15 kills against Glastonbury – and looking to go the full distance against Eastern this time around.

The CCC is so top heavy in terms of outstanding programs and the Rams are right there in that mix.

Eastern’s season since beating Bristol Central (5-2 overall) – Eastern made good on its one-set triumph over Central – winning the majority of their matches.

And all seven of those matches were winnable jaunts for the Lancers.

The Kingstreeters fell to Farmington 3-1 and Platt 3-2 in a five set showdowns, and both those CCC programs are really good.

Eastern tallied sweeps against Conard, Edwin O. Smith, Conard and Berlin during that stretch. 

Reay has been one of the leaders of the group, swinging down 291 kills on the season, an average of 5.2 kills-per-set.

Samara Paranzino dropped in a team-leading 36 aces, Martir-Perez tallied 177 digs and Hennouch, who also has excellent court vision, dished out 483 assists.

The Bristol Streak – The Bristol Eastern volleyball team is on a one-game winning streak against Bristol Central – taking 57 of the past 58 matches.

Last season, the teams split the season series 1-1.

What to expect on Monday – Before last year, when was the last time the rivals split the season series?

Try 1994 when Eastern won on its own home court (3-1) while in the rematch, Central was a huge 3-2 victor over the Kingstreeters.

Again, in the early and mid-1990s, this city series showdowns were competitive, and anything could happen between the programs.

And it finally took until 2022 for those matches to return to these tremendous back-and-forth amazing spectacles. 

Bottom Line – You pick the winner because this one is too close to call.

The two squads don’t look like they mirror each other but, overall, they most certainly do.

No lead is safe, there’s seemingly a veteran everywhere on the court for both squads and each time a match commences, heads are going to roll.

There’s never a bad match when the volleyball programs from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern clash and expect no different from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium tonight.

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