By Michael Letendre
The finals of the CCC Volleyball Tournament had the outstanding squad from Bristol Central — the sixth ranked program in the field — taking on top-seeded Southington in a Saturday evening tilt from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium.
And while the Knights ended up seizing the championship behind a 3-0 sweep, the Rams benefited greatly over the four-game CCC excursion.
Game scores were 25-17, 25-19 and 25-17 as the Knights (21-1 overall) are an excellent volleyball outfit.
Credit belongs to the program from Central (16-8) as the team, playing with house money, fought well in its first ever CCC Tournament Title bout, taking on a very powerful program from Southington.
The Knights are strong in all areas of the game with big finishers at the line, an excellent setter to set things up – much like Alex Rivera from Central — and a back row that seemingly bumped everything up.
“They’re loaded at every position,” said Central coach Lance Pepper of Southington. “And credit to them. They were so scrappy tonight. They picked everything up. They didn’t let the ball hit the floor no matter what they did. And it’s tough to get points off of that when they have weapons at every position.”
Cami Wessels and Natalee Grindle each posted 10 kills for the Knights while the squad blocked six shots at the net.
Alyssa Ferreira bumped up 16 digs and Megan Smith dished out 36 assists for the winners.
But the experience along from playing all the best squads of the CCC will only help the Rams as the Class L postseason tournament soon commences.
And the match was competitive despite the sweep as six lead changes and 12 ties showed a little balance on the court.
The first set saw a 2-2 stalemate as Alex Rivera (23 assists) found fellow captain Grace Higgins for a big swing to net an early stalemate.
But separate runs of 8-2 and 6-3 propelled Southington to a 16-7 edge midway through the frame.
The Knights never got it to double figures as Lily Kirk (15 kills) dropped in two straight sideline kills and when Daigelis Figueroa slipped in long, clean ace, the deficit was chopped to a manageable 18-12.
Central just couldn’t lop off any more of the deficit as the Knights roped up a 25-17 win over set one to take early control of the match.
Southington’s size continued to bother Central into the second set and off a Kirk kill that went long and a Knights’ serve that wasn’t returned, the top seed was in front 10-5.
However, Central used an 8-1 burst — highlighted by a block and tip-over from Ella Pratt and a slick Emily Fontaine ace that skimmed the net before crashing over to Southington’s side of the court — as the Rams led 13-11 midway through the second set.
“I thought our kids fought hard tonight,” said Pepper. “We didn’t give up. I thought the progress we’ve made from day one until now has been phenomenal. We battled some injuries, we overcame some line-up changes but the growth out of all these kids has been great and that’s what we expected.”
A 6-0 jaunt by Southington gave the squad a 17-13 edge which eventually bloomed to six points late.
Fontaine blocked a shot late to trim the deficit to 23-19 but the locals saw its offense stall out.
Kills by Grindle and Etta Rocco ended the frame with Southington capturing a 14-6 set closing run – leading to a 25-19 victory to go up 2-0 in the match.
Over the final set, the Rams refused to go quietly into the night as the teams battled to a 7-7 stalemate.
Southington went up for good a short time late, but Rivera found Kirk for a kill from the left side to chop the deficit to 11-10.
Higgins had a late swing to keep Central hanging around, down 17-14, before Southington put the match away for good.
Middle hitter Katrina Possidento nabbed a couple late kills as the top seed zipped up three straight points to win the title as Southington took the set 25-17 and won the match via a 3-0 sweep.
Central went 3-1 over CCC Tournament play, battling all the best squads from the CCC — including RHAM and Southington — that will only reap benefits for the locals when the Class L Tournament commences later this week.
“That’s the thing. We want to keep playing until the [CCC] Tournament is over and then you go on to the next tournament,” said Pepper. “You don’t want to have a big layoff because then it’s like, ‘what do we do?’ How many practices can you have and then the kids get stale in the gym. So, the fact that we had the opportunity to play in the CCC Tournament is great to represent our school and our city.”
“Our girls did a great job representing Bristol Central.”
Central opens Class L Tournament play on Tuesday with a first round challenge against No. 24 New Milford.
The Rams are ranked No. 9 in a loaded field that includes CCC powers Farmington (No. 3) and pesky Simsbury (No. 6).
NOTES…Congratulations to Alex Rivera as she recently tallied her 2,000th assist for the Bristol Central volleyball program. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for the CCC South All-Conference competitor.
Bristol Central Volleyball – CCC Tournament Finals
SOUTHINGTON 3, BRISTOL CENTRAL 0
from the Pepper Dome, Bristol
Set Scores: 25-17, 25-19 and 25-17
Lead changes: 6
Ties: 12
Highlights – Bristol Central: Lily Kirk 15 kills, Alex Rivera 23 assists.
Records: Southington 21-1 overall; Bristol Central 16-8.
CCC Volleyball Tournament – Recap
First Round – Monday, Oct. 30 (from the site of the higher seed)
#16 Enfield 0 at #1 Southington 3 (25-9, 25-23, 25-10)
#15 Wethersfield 0 at #2 RHAM 3 (25-6, 25-5, 25-10)
#14 Newington 3 at #3 Windsor 1
#13 Berlin 1 at #4 Farmington 3 (25-21. 28-30. 25=21, 25-17)
#12 Avon 0 at #5 Glastonbury 3 (25-5, 25-11, 25-10)
#11 Tolland 0, at #6 Bristol Central 3 (25-14, 25-10, 25-13)
#10 South Windsor 3 at #7 Lewis Mills 1 (25-17. 25-13, 19-25, 25-7)
#9 Bristol Eastern 0 at #8 Simsbury 3 (25-13, 25-19, 25-12)
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, Nov. 1 (from the site of the higher seed)
#8 Simsbury 1, #1 Southington 3 (25-19, 18-25, 25-17, 25-20)
#5 Glastonbury 1, #4 Farmington 3 (25-22, 26-28, 25-11, 25-21)
#14 Newington 0, #6 Bristol Central 3 (26-24, 25-10, 25-23)
#10 South Windsor 0, #2 RHAM 3 (25-23, 25-20, 25-15)
Semifinal Round, Friday, Nov. 3 at the Charles Marsh Gymnasium (Bristol Central)
#6 Bristol Central 3, #2 RHAM 1 (25-23, 12-25, 25-21, 25-15)
#4 Farmington 0, #1 Southington 3 (25-15, 25-15, 25-17)
CCC Tournament Finals, Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium (Bristol Central)
No. 1 Southington 3, No. 6 Bristol Central 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-17).
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