The Toll Gate Titans girls’ volleyball team swept Pilgrim, 3-0, in the season opener at Pilgrim on Thursday night. Toll Gate scored first in every set.

“We did pretty well,” Toll Gate head coach Jean McGarry said. “We still need a little work on our serve/receive, but our offense was coming together. It’s getting there.”

Danielle Dione scored first for Toll Gate before Pilgrim’s Isabel Allaire tied it at 1. Then, Toll Gate went off for eight straight points while jumping out to a 9-1 edge. Finally, Pilgrim put a stop to it when Rhianna Bellows put one past Toll Gate. After a Titan penalty, the score was 9-3. The Pilgrim rally continued with Bellows collecting for back-to-back aces, pulling Pilgrim within 10-7 before Bellows’ teammate Alexis Bier committed a serving error. Soon after, Pilgrim junior Julia Conti put one past a diving Meghan Murray, making it an 11-8 game. Bier had a return next, and not long after, Pilgrim tied it at 11. Conti gave Pilgrim its first lead on a serve and a failed return by Toll Gate.

However, Conti had a serving error next, and just like that, the game was locked at 12. Toll Gate’s Murray would put the Titans back on top at 13-12 before her teammate Lauren Stamps put one past Bellows and Allaire, increasing the Titans’ lead to 14-12. Next, Katelyn Stamps assisted to Brianna DeRobbio, who spiked it past Pilgrim, increasing the Toll Gate lead to 15-12.  After a point by Katelyn Stamps, the Titans led 17-14.

Pilgrim stormed back, scoring three straight to tie it at 17 after a point from Bellows. Pilgrim went up 20-17 before Dione intervened. With the Patriots up by two, Bellows passed to Conti, but her attempt sailed out of bounds, decreasing their lead to 20-19. Toll Gate tied it at 20 when Lauren Stamps made an acrobatic play.

Junior Christa Fitzsimmons crushed an ace, giving Toll Gate a 22-21 lead before Pilgrim head coach Kelly Harrington called a timeout.   

After a serving error on Fitzsimmons, the game was tied at 22. Junior Ashley Ferreira served next for Pilgrim and Bellows assisted to Allaire on the return, but the attempted attack sailed out of bounds. With Toll Gate up 23-22, Murray served and Pilgrim drove the return into the net, giving Toll Gate game point. However, Pilgrim would score two straight points to tie the game at 24. With Toll Gate leading 25-24, Pilgrim’s Tyler Olivelli served out of bounds and the Titans took the first set 26-24.

Katelyn Stamps opened up the second set with an ace for Toll Gate, giving it an early 1-0 lead. Dione kept the Titans rolling, batting one over to make it 2-0. After DeRobbio put Pilgrim up 3-0, Katelyn Stamps finally faltered when her serve sailed into the net, putting Pilgrim on the board at 4-1.  

On serve, Olivia King scored back-to-back points and pulled Pilgrim within 4-3. Next, DeRobbio increased the Titans’ lead to 5-4. A big block from Toll Gate’s Jillian Higgins extended the Titans’ lead to 6-4. With back-to-back aces from Toll Gate’s DeRobbio, the Titans went up 10-4. Next, Toll Gate’s Murray and Higgins combined for a double block before Pilgrim’s Conti slammed a point past Toll Gate. However, with Toll Gate holding on to an 11-5 lead, Murray stuffed shot attempts from Bellows and Jordan Tiberi before Faith Porter scored with back-to-back aces, making it 14-5 Toll Gate. Next, Pilgrim’s Conti dropped a point down in front to cut the deficit by one. The Pats’ Ferreira then came up with a big block on Murray, making it 14-7. However, Toll Gate would put an end to the Pilgrim run when Murray responded to Bellows’ serve with a spike, making it 16-7. Two points from Bellows and an ace from Ferreira pulled Pilgrim within 17-11, but Toll Gate would once again answer. This time, the Titans got back-to-back points on a kill from Fitzsimmons and an ace from Lauren Stamps to go up 19-11.

Ultimately, a serving error by Pilgrim’s Miranda Vermette and a point by Murray gave Toll Gate a 25-18 win of the second set while taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Katelyn Stamps had a monstrous block while giving Toll Gate a 1-0 lead in the third set. Then, Katelyn Stamps dominated on the serve, helping Toll Gate out to a 5-0 lead before Pilgrim got on the board.

With Conti on serve, Pilgrim cut it to 5-3. However, after a fault by Conti, the Titans increased their lead to 10-4 after Dione blasted a shot in the campfire and Lauren Stamps flushed one down. However, Pilgrim once again would make it a game.  Pilgrim’s tandem of Allaire and Ana Alvarez came up clutch with Allaire contributing two spikes of her own while Alvarez served Pilgrim to a tie featuring an ace to lock the game at 10.

After a serving error by Alvarez, Toll Gate’s Fitzsimmons helped serve her squad to a 13-10 advantage. Bellows assisted to Allaire next for a point in front before Allaire scored another to pull Pilgrim within 13-12. But, that’s as close as it would come.

After Conti batted down a return to bring Pilgrim within 14-13, Toll Gate got hot. The Titans went up 17-13 on points from Lauren Stamps and Murray. Then, Pilgrim’s Conti cut it to 17-15. However, after Bellows’ serve sailed into the net, Katelyn Stamps served Toll Gate to a 19-15 advantage. Pilgrim’s Alvarez slammed one past Toll Gate to cut it to 19-17.

With DeRobbio serving, Toll Gate tallied three consecutive points, including an ace from DeRobbio, giving it a 23-17 lead. Pilgrim would score one more time before a big spike from Murray set up game point for the Titans. After a serve from Toll Gate’s Porter, Katelyn Stamps set up Lauren Stamps for the game-winner, giving Toll Gate a sweep in the match with a 25-18 win.

“I think we played well,” Harrington said. “I think we made some serving errors and we had some things that we can improve upon. It’s only the beginning of the season, but I’m excited about it. I think we have talented players and we’re all learning our roles and working hard.”