ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Fenwick’s Mary O’Brien stretches to send the ball over.
By KATIE MORRISON
NORTHBOROUGH — Sometimes, even if you play to the best of your ability, you still come up just a bit short.
That was the case for the Bishop Fenwick volleyball team, as it fell in an exhilarating, back-and-forth five-setter, 3-2, to Notre Dame Academy Hingham in the Division 2 state semifinal at Algonquin Regional High School Tuesday night.
The action was non-stop, and the Crusaders came up with huge play after huge play to stave off the Cougars. But in the end, Notre Dame climbed back from a seven-point deficit in the deciding set to take it, 15-13.
“I had nothing to say to my kids besides ‘you played your butts off, you played awesome.’ This was as good as it gets, as far as back-and-forth volleyball goes,” said Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis. “It’s kind of cliche to say ‘it’s a shame someone has to lose that game,’ but that’s what that game was.”
The Crusaders dominated the first set, taking down the Cougars 25-16. Thanks to a few big kills from Stephanie Bona, Fenwick created a little distance to take a 9-5 lead early in the set. A four-point serving run from Camille Tache helped the Crusaders put the set away.
In set two, Fenwick held a 10-8 lead, but the Cougars went on an 8-1 run to create some space. After a Crusaders timeout, Fenwick climbed back into it, pulling back within two at 19-17 before Molly Camelo tipped over a shot that fooled the Notre Dame front line to make it 19-18. That’d be as close as the Crusaders would get in the set, though, and they fell, 25-19.
The situation looked dire for Fenwick after set three. It was one of those that could go either way and stayed close throughout, but Notre Dame pulled it out, 25-22.
Fenwick sprung out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set, but Notre Dame went on a big, 10-2 run to take an 11-8 lead. Bona stopped the bleeding with a big kill and Bona went on a three-point serving run to tie the set at 11.
From there, Fenwick stayed in the driver’s seat, and Joie Dillon put it away with a nice play, sending a shot to an open space across the net.
The Crusaders looked to have momentum on their side, and rode it into the fifth set. Fenwick built a 12-5 lead in the set, and looked to have it wrapped up.
But Notre Dame went on one last run, and it was a killer. The Cougars clawed back into the game to go up, 13-12. Bona got another point for Fenwick, but Notre Dame closed it out in a gut-wrenching final two points.
“It’s tough to lose after being up 12-5, but against a great team, it’s not really rare,” said DeBaggis. “There were so many runs, and they finished with a 10-1 run, it’s unfortunate to be on the other side of that.”
For Fenwick, Camelo came up with 20 kills and five blocks, and Bona added 16 kills and 10 digs. Sam Mancinelli had 42 assists and three blocks, and Jennie Meagher had eight blocks. Julia Fusco came up with 22 digs, and Dillon added 14.
Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected].