Gilbert meets NWR7 in volleyball

WINSTED — In an early season rivalry match, the Northwestern Regional High School and Gilbert School varsity girls volleyball teams met at Gilbert on Sept. 13, with both teams boasting experienced rosters and rising expectations for the upcoming year. 

Both teams looked rusty at times, and both got off to slow starts before the Highlanders eventually took control for a 3-1 victory, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 25-12.

Northwestern was playing their first match of the season, while Gilbert was coming off a loss against Lewis Mills last Friday.

Though both Gilbert and Northwestern have expectations of improving on last season, they sit at different stages of their program’s development. After a very promising campaign undercut by injuries, John Hurlock’s Highlander’s are looking to build on a Berkshire League tournament title and playoff berth, while Kaitlin Gillard’s Yellowjackets hope to develop confidence and lean on an experienced core of seniors to rise above the somewhat disappointing 4-16 mark they set in 2015.

For the better part of three games, Yellowjackets hung tough, making difficult digs and using smart touches and attacks to rattle Northwestern. 

In the end, the Highlander’s depth, and their duo of superstar outside hitters, put their upstart rivals away.

“We had a shaky game one,” said Hurlock, “But we had a decent lead. Game two, we just didn’t do our jobs, and that was my focus tonight, do your job. And I would say, game four everyone did their jobs.”

 For their part, Gilbert fought for every point, and during the sloppy opening games the Yellowjacket’s scrappy and tenacious play kept them even with the Highlanders.

After gifting four straight points away on errors and poor passes in the first game to fall behind 14-10, the Yellowjackets clawed back to tie the score at 18 all, with senior Deanna Delacruz twice finding holes in the Highlander’s formation with smart touches.

All about strategy

Fighting from behind is something Gilbert has struggled with in the past, and something Gillard has already seen her team improving on this season.

“You kind of see it — when we get down, we get really down,” said Gillard, “and it’s hard to get back out. This year, they might miss a couple passes, miss a couple serves, and they’re able to kind of get themselves out of that.”

“I said at the beginning of the season, we really need to work on our mental game. And I think we’re already doing better, two games in.”

Gilbert’s starting setter, junior Elizabeth Wexler, is playing her first ever season of organized volleyball, Gillard said. Though she described Wexler as “a natural athlete,” Gillard said there was still a lot for her to learn.

“We’re trying to teach her like a year in every practice,” laughed Gillard.

As a whole team, though, the Yellowjackets struggled with communication. The last point of game one came as Gilbert miscounted the number of hits and failed to send the ball over.

On the other side, the Highlanders eventually showed they have no problem with communication or team chemistry. Inconsistent through the first two games, by the fourth Northwestern was humming, with senior Kate Matava setting up the team’s two Mollys: Senior Molly Clarke and junior Molly Porch, both powerful and dynamic outside hitters who hammered the Yellowjackets with hard-angle high-speed overhands for the last two games.

“I always want to be an offensive team,” said Hurlock. “I want every time we put the ball back over the net to be challenging them. I don’t like to free-ball. Even if it’s a ball we should free-ball, I’d rather it be a swing, and challenge them.”

Gilbert took a back-and-forth second game that stayed close throughout, with both teams committing a bevy of errors. Senior Alexis Johnson-Blue closed out the game for Gilbert with an ace, and the Yellowjackets seemed to hold the momentum going forward.

But by the waning moments of game three, they began to fade, as Northwestern found a rhythm and put their hitters to work.

In the fourth and decisive game, the Highlanders recorded eight kills and seven aces, while the Yellowjackets’ managed only two kills and a single ace.

“Games three and four, we really need to work on [our mental game],” said Gillard. “So I don’t know if that’s stamina — this mental game is still a little new to us.”

Senior Ali Brochu led the Yellowjackets with six kills, and Delacruz added four, though Gilbert also committed 20 errors for the match.

Northwestern started without junior Morgan Twombly, who Hurlock said suffered an injury over the weekend and only played sparingly, though she is cleared going forward, he said.

The Yellowjackets play next at Terryville on Friday, Sept. 16, part of a three-match road trip that ends when they host Cheney Tech on Sept. 23. Northwestern has a home match with Lewis Mills on Tuesday, Sept. 20.