By Ken Lipshez
MaxPreps.com
COVENTRY, Conn. – Coventry High School coach Matt Hurlock marveled in his team’s fancy passing.
Southington’s Rich Heitz hoped what he witnessed was just a passing fancy.
Third-ranked Coventry blended pinpoint passing, the efficient setting of Emily Lebowitz, a diverse hitting attack and perfect serving into a 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-22) sweep of No. 5 Southington in the battle of volleyball unbeatens at the Coventry High School gym on Monday night.
Heitz attributed his team’s inconsistent showing to nerves.
“I think we had a few kids show up scared. It was evident some showed up who were ready to play and others weren’t. I don’t know any better word than scared or nervous,” Heitz said.
“Our serve-receive passing was never that weak. They weren’t serving that hard. We just had some kids that were real nervous.”
Coventry (15-0) surged to an 18-6 lead in the first game before Southington (15-1) managed to score off a serve. Elyse St. Amand caught fire at the line, Liz Nichols knocked down some kills and combined with Lexie Broytman to reduce the efficiency of the Patriots' top hitters Stephanie Oliver (18 kills) and Becca Loftis (10).
“Our blockers were chasing their hitters too far out to the pin so we had to get them to stay in,” Heitz said. “They were hitting cross-court on almost everything and when we did that we started to get some touches on them.”
Southington closed the gap to 20-16 but Coventry regained enough momentum to seal it.
“Everybody remembers the hitters but I thought my passers were phenomenal,” Hurlock said. “I thought they did job of handling their serves and they got the ball to our setter. If they get the ball to our setter we’re tough to beat.”
Heitz’s hope that St. Amand’s run would carry into the second game didn’t come to pass.
Southington, which had not lost as much as a game in its first 15 matches this season, suffered a total collapse. The Knights matched Coventry’s perfection from the service line in the first game but three misses out of 12 in the second game applied flame to the fuel.
Southington landed 48 of its 55 serves while Coventry went 73-for-73.
“Our back row was really strong. It was our goal coming into the game was for our back row to be stronger than their servers and I really think we were,” Lebowitz said. “We made them serve some out balls, we passed really well to our targets and we put them away when we had the chance.”
A four-point service run by Rachel Volpe at the start of Game 3 gave Southington its largest lead of the night at 5-2. It wouldn’t last long.
Consecutive missed serves and the Patriots’ relentless attack quickly pulled them even and staked them to a 12-9 lead. The Knights’ passing game again sputtered and Coventry expanded the lead to 17-12. The home team could smell the sweep.
“We were looking forward to hopefully proving who the undefeated team should be,” Lebowitz said. “I think we did that.”
Heitz indicated the setback did little to hinder the Knights’ season, other than to drop them out of a top seed in the Class LL tournament.
“If we won out, we were probably looking at a one or two. Now we’re looking at a two or three,” he said. “When we set it up I wanted a competitive match late in the season. This was definitely competitive. I’m disappointed we didn’t close out the opportunities we had but we hadn’t seen any talent like that this year.”
Coventry, Class S champions in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, has now won 62 matches since losing to Morgan-Clinton in the 2005 final.
Sweeping Proof
Farmington is enjoying its first tour of Central Connecticut Conference volleyball with only losses to league powers Southington and Maloney marring its record.
Bristol Eastern won Class L state titles in 2005 and 2006, and made it to the finals before losing to Darien last year. Although the Lancers had fallen back in the pack early this season, they recovered nicely by winning their last seven matches.
Farmington defeated Eastern, 3-1, in the first match of the season, but their second encounter was being billed as a litmus test for both. How good is Farmington? Has Eastern coach Stacy Rivoira led her young team back to championship form?
Farmington proved its mettle with a 3-0 (32-30, 25-18, 25-19) win on Monday. The Indians’ junior outside hitter Jessica Frankowski had eight kills and 13 digs. Eastern was led by Liz Pacyna, who had 15 kills and 11 digs.
Football Forfeit
The Conard-West Hartford football team on Monday forfeited its two victories this season for using an ineligible player, according to the CIAC.
The Chieftains, who were 2-4, self-reported what was termed a clerical mistake to the state's scholastic governing body. The incident reverses interdivisional CCC victories over Hartford Public, now 3-2, and Bristol Eastern, now 4-2.
Neither Conard athletic director Betty Remigino-Knapp nor the CIAC publicly identified the player but said he participated in each of the Chieftains' six games.
Playoff Races
Through six weeks of play, the following are the football playoff standings in the state's six classes. The top four teams in each class qualify for the semifinals on Dec. 2. The fourth seed plays the first and the second plays the third at the home field of the higher seed, provided that field is lighted.
Class LL: 1. Hamden; 2. Glastonbury; 3. New Britain; 4. Southington.
Class L: 1. Stratford Bunnell; 2. Monroe Masuk; 3. Waterbury Crosby; 4. Newington
Class MM: 1. Darien; 2. New Canaan; 3. New Haven Hillhouse; 4. Hartford Weaver.
Class M: 1. Brookfield; 2. St. Paul/Goodwin Tech; 3. Manchester Cheney Tech; 4. Berlin
Class SS: 1. New London; 2. Seymour; 3. Montville; 4. Rocky Hill
Class S: 1. Cromwell; 2. North Branford; 3. Ansonia; New Haven Hyde.
Ken Lipshez of the New Britain Herald covers central Connecticut for MaxPreps. He may be reached at kenlip@aol.com.
