WORCESTER – Joseph Case was some extent away from an eleventh title, however defending champions do what defending champions ought to do.
Ipswich (21-2) received an exciting come-from-behind victory in 5 units (21-25; 21-25; 25-18; 25-21; 18-16) over the Cardinals earlier than a packed home for the Div. 4 state title.
Not solely did the Tigers path 0-2 after the primary two units, however within the last stanza, Ipswich was down 14-15 and one level from elimination after a kill by junior captain Hannah Storm for the Cardinals.
But Grace Sorensen returned the volley on the subsequent aspect out together with her personal kill and the Tigers rallied for the 18-16 win.
Sorensen appeared to be in the proper place on the proper time your complete match.
“It’s crazy because we came in knowing this was going to be our last, especially losing the first two, we knew we really had to step up. Taking it to five (sets), it wasn’t just one of us, it was all 16 of us working together,” stated Sorensen.
Sorensen completed with 21 kills, six aces on solely 16 makes an attempt, together with 16 digs on the surface. Sophomore center hitter Addison Pillis, after shaking off some early set jitters, settled in for 12 kills to assist the Tigers to back-to-back championship titles.
Ipswich trailed as a result of unforced errors on the internet and likewise some uncharacteristic bother on the serve line for a complete of twenty-two errors within the sport, however head coach Staci Sonke by no means let her workforce lose focus, even trailing for a lot of the contest.
While the win provides Sonke and her squad back-to-back titles, this season’s lineup was considerably youthful than in 2021 and that thought was not misplaced on Sonke.
“This is a great look for our program looking ahead. I have lots of young kids on the roster and to have kids with experience from the past it builds a championship culture,” stated Sonke.
Cardinals head coach Brendan Kelly took over the Joseph Case program in 2019 from head coach Michaela Goncalves and slowly however certainly has this system again within the dialog for future and current state title runs.
Storm completed with 20 kills and 26 digs whereas Ava Silva added seven kills and fellow captain Jamie Moniz collected 12 digs in complete. Kelly lamented how the five-game match got here to a detailed.
“You look at the score and these set matches, and it’s super-cliché but someone has to lose,” stated Kelly. “A state championship game should go a full five, but I think there were parts of the game where we stopped being the aggressor”.
The Cardinals (23-2) went away from the surface units as Ipswich restricted the hard-hitting Storm from gaining momentum within the last two video games till the top when the senior nearly pulled out the superhero cape for Case.
But it was Sorensen who received to put on the back-to-back flag draped over her shoulders.
“Grace has been awesome for us in those clutch situations, and I know we didn’t serve our best game today but the championship nerves got to us in those first couple of sets,” stated Sonke. “This win helps give these kids confidence that last year wasn’t just a one-time thing for our program. Good things happen when you work hard and our hope is we continue so we are talked about as that storied program.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com