Emily Tinyszin blocks a Pomperaug attack during a 3-0 victory last Wednesday. Southington takes on the CCC tournament this week.
By BRIAN JENNINGS
STAFF WRITER
The Lady Knight volleyball team wrapped up the regular season with three-straight shutouts, finishing the regular season at 16-2 (7-2 home, 9-0 away) overall as the CCC West Colonial Division champ with a 9-1 regional record and 6-0 divisional record. Southington also locked up the No. 2 seed in both the CCC and Class LL tournaments.
“We played the toughest schedule in the state of Connecticut,” said Southington coach Rich Heitz. “We’ve beaten some very good teams and can rise to the occasion.”
Although they are one of the top teams in the state, Heitz said that his girls don’t think that they have necessarily played their best yet. Southington serves aggressively, and consistency at the line could prove too much for most teams they’ll face down the stretch.
“We’re typically around 87 to 88 percent,” he said, “but if we push it up from 90 to 95 percent, you’re going to have some lopsided scores on the scoreboard.”
Southington gets its first taste of the postseason this week when they host No. 15 Simsbury (11-8) on Monday, Oct. 30 in the first round of the conference tournament.
Subsequent rounds of the conference tournament will be posted at the CCC website (centralconnecticutconference.org). Higher seeded teams will host the second round, but semifinal games (Nov. 2) and the championship (Nov. 4) will be held at Glastonbury High School.
Pairings for the state tournament are to be posted by the CIAC by noon on Friday.
Win at Hall
OCT. 23—The Knights began their week on Monday with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-9) sweep at divisional Hall, finishing with a perfect road record on the regular season.
Stephanie Zera went 10-for-11 serving with three aces and dished out 34 assists. Sarah Myrick paced the offense with nine kills, and Nolyn Allen anchored the defense with 11 digs. Brooke Cooney went 19-for-19 behind the service line and contributed with eight kills. Jenna Martin went 7-for-7 serving with three aces and contributed with four digs.
Win vs. Pomperaug
OCT. 25—A couple days later, the Knights continued to roll with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-15) sweep of nonconference Pomperaug at home.
Hannah Zelina helped pace the offense with eight kills and led at the net defensively with a pair of blocks. Other team leaders included the following: Myrick (8 kills), Haley Larrabee (13-for-14 serving with 4 aces), Lynsey Danko (9 digs), and Zera (28 assists).
According to Heitz, Zera achieved her 2,000th career assist in the match.
“She’ll probably be the first to tell you, but she’s been able to play with some decent hitters,” said Heitz. “She’s had some good hitters that have been able to put the ball down, but her job’s been to get it to them, and she’s done that well.”
Win vs. NW Catholic
OCT. 26—The Knights closed out their season on Thursday with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-8, 25-6) sweep of divisional NW Catholic at home, earning their sixth-straight win and 13th shutout of the season.
Erica Bruno, Zelina, and Myrick all paced the offense with eight kills. Other team leaders included Emily Tinyszin (13-for-15 serving with 6 aces), Allen (8 digs), and Zera (34 assists).
For this week’s box scores, click here: (southingtonobserver.com/2017/11/01/weekly-scoreboard-for-the-nov-3-edition). To contact sports writer Brian Jennings, email him at BJennings@SouthingtonObserver.com.