Photo: Waiting for the serve.
Belmont High School Volleyball continued its historic winning streak by defeating perennial league powerhouse Winchester, 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 15-5), on Friday, Sept. 21 at the Wenner Field House. The Marauders’ (6-0-0) six consecutive victories to begin the season breaks a long-standing team consecutive win streak that stood at five. The win places Belmont atop the Middlesex League Liberty Division standings.
“This is the most mentally tough team that I’ve ever coached,” said Belmont Head Coach Jen Couture. “Teams like Winchester push us to play our best and that’s what we had to do to win that match. It was a team effort.”
“They aren’t afraid of making mistakes, but instead, learn and adjust. They understand that we’re going to lose points and sets but the most important thing is who wins the last one. They have the will to win and escalate their game to match each opponent,” Couture said.
Couture pointed to the consistent play of Belmont senior co-captain Leah Babroudi throughout the match, who was 15 for 15 serving with 3 aces, and perfect on serve receive 21 for 21.
“Leah was all over the place on defense, covering her hitters and keeping balls alive. She is one of the biggest competitors on the team and her energy on the court is contagious. She is so tough and never lets a missed dig get to her. She just shakes it off and gets the next ball up,” said Couture, who captained Belmont in 2004.
The Marauders started off a little slow in the first, keeping pace with the Sachems until they pushed from 19-18 to 25-18 to close the first set.
The second set was back and forth, with each team going on 3-5 point scoring runs including one by Jenny Vetrano to bring the Marauders to 24-18. Vetrano was 18 for 18 serving with 1 ace. The Sachems sided out and Senior Captain Luna Colozzo went on a run of her own bringing the score to 24-24 before the Marauders could side out and finish off the set 26-24.
The third set was also close throughout with the Marauders inching away later in the set to win 25-23. As the match progressed, libero Sophia Estok continued to read Winchester’s hitters better and better making incredible digs (25 total). Setter Mindee Lai also played superb defense and was second in digs with 17.
Strong passes and smart hits by senior co-captain Jane Mahon (14 kills) helped the Marauders to get into a groove early in the fourth set, as they were able to side out on the first pass for the first 5 servers. However, a serving rotation error saw Belmont’s lead reduced from 10-5 to 8-6, which caused the team to lose momentum and eventually the set.
While it was too late to take back the set, which they dropped 18-25, they picked up enough steam to start off the fifth set strong. Estok went back to serve and brought the Marauders to a 6-1 lead. Clutch kills to by Nena Trifunovic (7 total, 4 of her last 5 swings being kills) kept the momentum going and the team never let up. Finally at 11-5 Mahon went back to serve and finished out the match, ending the final set 15-5.
Belmont is back home in the Wenner Field House hosting Arlington on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.
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