Pilgrim surges past Vets in rivalry tilt

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 9/30/14

In what looked like a meeting of fairly evenly-matched teams on paper, the Pilgrim girls’ volleyball team made Thursday night’s city rivalry showdown with Warwick Vets look like a mismatch.

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Pilgrim surges past Vets in rivalry tilt

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In what looked like a meeting of fairly evenly-matched teams on paper, the Pilgrim girls’ volleyball team made Thursday night’s city rivalry showdown with Warwick Vets look like a mismatch.

The Pats cruised to a 3-0 sweep, winning 25-20, 25-15 and 25-17 in the three games. It was the first sweep of the season for Pilgrim, and it came at the expense of a Vets team that is suddenly reeling.

The ’Canes, who were 3-2 heading into the match, were coming off of a 3-0 sweep at the hands of undefeated East Greenwich, and that seemed to carry over. The Pats, meanwhile, were 2-3 heading into the match and were coming off a 3-1 victory over West Warwick.

Both teams are now at the .500 mark at 3-3, tied for fourth with West Warwick in Division II-South.

“I expected it to be a competitive match,” said Pilgrim head coach Kelly Harrington. “For the whole season, we anticipate maybe having the momentum go back and forth. We’re very pleased to come in here, and we know what we’re capable of. To come in and execute is only going to take us to another level.”

Vets had no answer for Pilgrim’s quick plays in the middle, as senior Alexa Annotti dominated at the net for the Pats with 14 kills.

Every time Pilgrim needed a key point, it went to the middle, and the ’Canes couldn’t adjust.

“We had trouble reading their quick plays at the net,” said Vets head coach Jean McGarry. “For some reason my middles were not with it tonight. I think that some of my defenders were trying to cover those spots because of that, and it threw everything off.”

Game one was the closest one of the night, but it was still fairly comfortable for the Pats, and it was perhaps the most important game of all.

Once armed with the 1-0 lead, Pilgrim’s confidence steadily grew.

“We got really excited and started playing with great energy,” Annotti said. “We tried to make the significance of that known during our timeouts. We wanted to keep that or even have it go up.”

In game two, Vets took a 4-0 lead, with Emily Walason registering a kill and Samantha Beaufort serving an ace. But Pilgrim stormed back, taking its first lead at 8-7 on a second consecutive ace from Colleen Conti, and never trailed again.

Vets tied the score at nine on a block by Shannon McCarthy and again at 10 and 11, yet the Pats avoided crucial mistakes and continued to dominate the middle.

Annotti had three kills in a four-point span to put Pilgrim up 15-11, and before long it was 19-12. Conti had a big hit, Annotti added one of her three aces and Megan St. Jacques picked up a block. The game never got much closer, with the Pats winning 25-15.

“We played really well today,” Annotti said. “I think it all came together. Our passing was on. We tried to run some plays and they were successful.”

Game three looked like it might go to Vets early on, as its offense came around. The ’Canes led 10-5, with Jess Tyree supplying a big kill in the early stages.

Pilgrim, however, wouldn’t be denied. It won 10 of the next 11 points to take a 15-11 lead and then never trailed again.

“I don’t know what happened,” McGarry said. “The girls’ basic skills kind of fell apart a little bit. They started doubting themselves about things that I know they can do. It kind of just domino-ed from there.”

Pilgrim got three kills from Annotti during its run, while Meaghan Woodbury had a pair of aces and Deveny Dionne had a kill.

The Pats’ solid serving was the key to the comeback in game three, as they broke out of a season-long slump with a near-perfect performance from the back line. They had just three service errors in the final two games.

“We were in a serving rut our last couple of games,” Harrington said. “As of tonight, we’ve overcome that. We’re serving stronger.”

Once ahead by four, Pilgrim extended its lead out to 18-12 and the rest of the game – and the match – was never in jeopardy. The game came to a close on a floating shot to an open space from setter Nancy Alvarez, who also excelled for most of the night.

To go with Annotti’s offensive performance, Conti and St. Jacques each had seven kills.

“Colleen and Megan had some really killer hits,” Annotti said. “We just came together. It was a real team effort.”

Liz Iadevaia, a senior captain, was Vets’ most consistent player on the night.

Pilgrim will have a tough task ahead, as it is scheduled to be at Cranston West, a 5-1 team, today at 6:30 p.m.

Vets has a big match as well, playing at West Warwick today at 6 p.m.

The Pats and ’Canes will meet again at Pilgrim on Oct. 23.

“We play them again, and hopefully it will be a better match,” McGarry said.

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