After winning two of its first three matches, the West Haven volleyball team has hit a rough patch. Unable to put opponents away, the Westies are in the midst of a four-match skid.
West Haven opened the week with a key contest against Amity and star Abby Harbinson. West Haven found how good Harbinson is first hand last Monday evening as Harbinson took over in each game when her team needed her most, leading the Spartans over West Haven, 25-16, 25-14, 25-9 at West Haven High. The senior finished with 12 kills, but it was not the number of kills, but when those kills came in the match.
“We know we were not playing our best,” Harbinson said. “We were making a lot of errors on our side.
We want to improve and see how that improvement shows in one game alone.”
After pulling away from a close game in the opener to win by nine points, Amity found itself in a battle with the Westies in the second game. With the Spartans leading 13-12, Harbinson took over.
Three straight kills by the senior had the Spartans in front 16-12 and Amity never looked back. A block by Megan Carpenter put the Spartans up by five points before West Haven’s Irene Ronan blasted a kill to get the Westies within 20-14.
“She certainly did take over,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said of Harbinson. “That is about where we stopped playing. They get some momentum going and they just took over. We were unable to stop them. You cannot give her or that team free balls. They take advantage of that.”
The Westies never got closer as a run of errors kept the Spartans in control. Those errors helped Amity close the second game on a 16-2 run.
“It all starts with our passing,” Amity coach Seth Davis said. “If we can control our side of the court, we play a lot better. When we control our side, we can play with a lot of teams.”
The win in the second game by the Spartans took some steam out of the Westies as Amity cruised in the third and final game.
Harbinson opened the final game with a kill and a dink, before another Ronan kill for the Westies has the Westies within one.
An ace by Zoe DiZenzo and another kill by Harbinson had the Spartans up five and West Haven never got closer. A pair of kills by Carpenter put Amity up 12-4 and 17-5, before a kill by West Haven’s Jennifer Ortiz was answered by two more Harbinson kills.
Kills by Maddy Smith and Mariam Tkeshelashvili put the Spartans closer to clinching the match, before three West Haven errors helped seal the win for the Spartans.
DiZenzo ran the Amity offense with 17 assists, while Tkeshelashvili had five kills for the Spartans. Ronan led West Haven with five kills and one block, while Bria Stanley added four kills.
There are losses and there are tough losses. The Westies suffered one of those tough losses Thursday evening.
Leading two games to one, West Haven could not seal the deal and watched as Hamden rallied to win the final two games to post a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Westies at West Haven High Thursday evening. With the heartbreaking 25-17, 14-25, 25-14, 21-25, 14-16 loss, West Haven fell to 2-3 on the season.
“Tonight was a very tough loss and the girls were full of emotions,” Coldren said. “They worked very hard and still came out on the losing end. The good news is they know they don’t like this feeling, so hopefully they will do everything it takes to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We definitely had far too many unforced errors and they seemed to happen at the worst possible time. They have to stay focused and disciplined in order for us to be successful and get these wins.”
Ortiz ran the offense with 26 assists, had three digs on the defensive side and played well all around. Nancy Tapia also had a solid all-around match with 13 kills and six digs, while Noelle Noble was equally impressive with seven digs and four aces. Ronan was solid up front with 10 kills, Celina Condon had three digs, and Stanley added four blocks and two kills.
“Nancy (Tapia), Jen (Ortiz), and Noelle (Noble) played well on defense tonight,” Coldren said. “They were scrappy and kept us alive during a lot of plays. Nancy and Irene (Ronan) did well at the net. We needed to be a little more consistent but overall they played well.”
West Haven seemingly loves excitement. Unfortunately for the Westies, that excitement has not been kind to them.
Watching as Cross stormed back in the final game, West Haven lost its second straight five-game heart breaker, 25-17, 19-25, 12-25, 25-17, 13-15, at West Haven Friday evening.
With the third consecutive loss, West Haven fell to 2-4 on the year.
“It was a very frustrating night,” Coldren said. “We won the first game and then played really flat in the next two games. Even though we won a couple of games, we couldn’t put everything together and get our offense going. There were a lot of breakdowns in communication and unforced errors again. We really need to get over this hump and get back to winning, but it’s going to take a total team effort. This past week of matches we definitely beat ourselves in most cases and we have to get back on track.”
Ortiz ran the offense with 18 assists and four aces, while also adding three digs defensively. Tapia and Ronan each had 10 kills, Noble played well in back with 10 digs, and Condon also added five digs.
“Noelle (Noble) had a good night in the back row and Nancy (Tapia) continues to play well in the front and back row,” Coldren said.
Tapia added four digs, Bria Stanley had four kills, and Kara Erickson added three digs.
West Haven lost its fourth straight match with a 3-0 decision at Lauralton Hall Monday evening. With the 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 defeat, West Haven fell to 2-5 on the year.
Ortiz had nine assists, Tapia added five digs and four kills, Ronan had five kills, and Noble had eight digs. Giliana Santaniello chipped in four aces, two kills, three digs, and four assists, while Stanley added five kills.
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