Sports: Volleyball’s Historic Journey Ends at 6-Foot, 2-Inch Roadblock

Belmont High School’s Volleyball historic journey ended Tuesday night, Nov. 4 when it ran into a six-foot, two-inch roadblock stationed in the middle of the Arlington Catholic High School court.

The big obstacle Belmont faced was Cougar’s middle blocker “Demi” Fogarty, who did not just possess killer skills in a 72-inch frame but was accompanied by a supporting cast which could hold their own against most teams in the Div. 2 North Sectionals without Demiana situated at the net.

While the Marauders (who arrived 35 minutes late due a bus flub up) kept their spirits high though out the quarterfinal match played in a gym straight from “American Graffiti” – small, old fashioned with squeaky, wooden floors that bounced when you jumped on it – they couldn’t keep the ball from Fogarty’s wide wingspan as the junior swatted away balls and smashed passes for point after point for Arlington Catholic (19-3).

After 45 minutes, Belmont, who entered the tournament as the seventh seed, walked off the court after losing to the second-seed in a three-set sweep (25-13, 25-9, 25-19).

Belmont’s season ends with a record 16 wins (16-6) and a playoff win – a 3-2 victory over Danvers High on Friday, Oct. 31 – the first since 2010.

While Belmont had scouted AC’s first playoff game against Tewksbury and had practiced on double blocking Fogarty, the became quickly evident that the middle hitter was going to be a handful as she slammed an above-the-net kill for the first point of the game.

While Belmont was able to capitalize on some iffy play selection from the Cougars, the home team was also able to set up Fogarty or six-foot sophomore Lena Perez to strike a power shot at the Marauders’ back line.

Senior middle blocker Alexandra Davis‘ kill gave the Marauders’ its final lead in the first game at 6 before AC went on a 12-4 run behind Fogarty and senior libero Danielle Sullivan.

The second set saw senior setter Becki Sandvos contribute with a few nifty kills from a mid court position yet the Cougars were ever present at the net, able to turn back Belmont’s kill attempts or force shots high and out.

“[Senior] Rosy Fitzgerald was extremely consistent and was 20-for-21 hitting with eight kills. She also was 10-for-10 digging and 16-for-18 on serve receive,” said Coutour.

“Senior libero Sam Nelson also had a good game with great passes and was 22 for 22 on serve receive,” the coach said.

“Yvette Kleinbock had our only big serving run early on in the third set” with six straight points to knotted the score up at 12, said Coutour.

But after the Belmont side out, “Fogarty rotated into the front row and we had a hard time getting any momentum back,” said the coach.

The 2014 season will remembered for the eight seniors – Davis, Julia Dexter, Fitzgerald, Kleinbock, Nelson, Yeonjae Park, Sandvos and Julie Yu – who anchored the team to more than a dozen straight set wins and losses to only playoff-bound teams.