BEACON FALLS >> No.2 Woodland came out firing and No. 3 Torrington didn’t in a 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 25-9) NVL Tournament semifinal win at Woodland High School Tuesday evening.
Woodland’s win propelled the Hawks (18-2) into Thursday’s tournament finals at Kennedy High School while winning the rubber match in their season split with the Red Raiders (18-3).
The Hawks won their first match against Torrington in the regular season 3-2; the Raiders swept the return match 3-0 two weeks ago.
Tuesday, it was no contest most of the way.
Senior hitter Samantha White led the Hawks with 16 kills and 14 digs. Cameron Caswell helped send back most of what Torrington could muster with 19 digs.
“We match up really well with Torrington,” said Woodland coach Jim Amato. “Coach (Christine) Gamari has a system in place and we’ve seen it a couple of times. This time we were ready.”
“Last time, it was our senior night and we had a huge crowd,” said White. “This time, we came in and played for laughs.”
“Last time, we had some tensions,” said Caswell. “Tonight we worked together.”
“We played timid,” said Coach Gamari. “We were not aggressive at the net or on defense. We made way too many unforced errors.
“You can’t control mindset. When we play clean, we’re great. When we won, they were the team making mistakes.”
Torrington’s Caitlyn Cornish (12 kills) got the first two points of the match. Then the Hawks took over.
White blasted four of the Hawks’ first six points in a 6-3 lead. Torrington gave up the other two points on errors.
“Sam is our big hitter. We rely on it,” said Coach Amato. “She sucks in the blockers and loosens the floor for our other hitters.”
This time, her early blasts seemed to shake the Raiders. Two unforced errors followed White’s opening series. Then Woodland’s defense kicked in with back-to-back blocks by Emily Brouillette.
Woodland errors and a Jayleen Colon spot pulled the Raiders to 12-11, but, this match, the Raiders killed their own chances time after time.
This time, a Torrington blast into the net and two aces by McKenna Cronin spaced the Hawk lead back out, 15-11.
Carissa Carbone, Jolie Fox and Lauren Gagnon worked the deficit back to 20-19. Woodland’s Carla Piccolo (7 kills, 14 assists, 8 digs, 2 blocks) and Cronin opened it back up, 22-19.
A Torrington error, Woodland ace and final kill by White pushed the Hawks over the top, 25-21.
Game Two was all the more convincing for a couple of reasons. On offense and the service line, the Hawks consistently found Torrington’s weak spots.
Torrington’s offense couldn’t keep their shots away from Caswell, the Hawk Libero, so there didn’t seem to be any weak spots in Woodland’s defense.
“We put her in pink so she’s the center of attention. She makes it her personal mission to keep the floor clean,” said Amato.
The Woodland lead got all the way to 20-7, then 23-14 on Woodland errors.
Brouillette and Madeline Hupprich finished it off with a kill and an ace.
The Hawks led Game Three all the way to 18-17. Torrington’s Carbone served two aces and the Raiders had their first real lead of the night, 19-18. Woodland mistakes and two Cornish kills gave the Raiders a 25-21 win that might have lit a Torrington fire.
Tuesday, the fire belonged to Woodland.
White seemed stronger than ever with two back-row kills. Piccolo raised her game to become a force at the net. Stephanie Krebbs, a freshman, joined in.
A final Samantha White kill fried the Raiders for good, 25-9.
In the late semifinal, Oxford, the No. 5 seed stunned previously-undefeated No. 1 Seymour 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 6-25, 25-21), gaining Thursday’s other berth in the finals.
No. 2 Woodland 3, No. 3 Torrington 1
(25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 25-9)
At Woodland High School
Highlights: T – Jayleen Colon 20 assists; Caitlyn Cornish 12 kills; Carissa Carbone 4 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces. W – Samantha White 16 kills, 1 ace, 14 digs; Carla Piccolo 7 kills, 14 assists, 8 digs, 2 blocks; McKenna Cronin 4 kills, 5 aces, 5 digs; Emily Brouillette 3 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks; Cameron Caswell 5 aces, 2 assists, 19 digs.
Records: Woodland 18-2; Torrington 18-3.