MALDEN — The Tech volleyball team’s Cinderella run through the Division 3 North tournament ended Monday evening, as the No. 11 Tigers fell to No. 3 Mystic Valley, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round. Tech fell by set scores of 11-25, 19-25, 25-23, 11-25.
“I thought we really played well today,” said Tech coach Kathy Pieroni. “These kids had never been to or won a tournament game before, and this year they hit both of those goals. So while the result tonight may not have been what we wanted, I’m still very proud of our team’s performance.”
Pieroni pointed to the strong play of her veteran starting lineup as the key to Tech’s tournament success, including the likes of Michayla Lawrence, Shyla Jackson, KK Carrasquillo and Katryn Barr.
“There’s no one girl who was better than any of the others, they all contributed so much this season,” Pieroni said. “They’ve all worked hard and supported each other from the beginning, and that’s a big reason why we’ve made it to this point.”
It was a close match to open the first set, with ties of 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6. But it was at that point that Mystic Valley gained a foothold and started to pull away. A 10-0 run by the Eagles made it 16-6 and forced a Tech timeout. Despite a small rally by Tech to make the score a bit closer, Mystic Valley remained in control and cruised to a 25-11 set win.
The second set was much more competitive, despite the fact that Mystic Valley took a 7-1 lead to start. The Tigers fought back to make it 8-6 Eagles, forcing a Mystic Valley timeout. That didn’t stop Tech, and the Tigers eventually clawed all the way back to take a 18-16 lead and force another Mystic Valley timeout. This time the timeout worked, as the Eagles went on a 9-1 run to close it out and earn a 25-19 set win.
The third set started the same way, with Mystic Valley running out to a quick 8-3 lead. The Tigers once again rallied, snatching the lead back at 11-10, but the Eagles fought back and took a 17-15 lead. Tech then tied the score at 20-20 before taking a one-point lead and forcing a Mystic Valley timeout. Mystic Valley was able to tie it at 23-23 coming out of the timeout but the Tigers scored the final two points of the set to notch a 25-23 win and keep the match alive.
The fourth set started close with a 3-3 tie but Mystic Valley quickly took control. The Eagles went up 8-4 and then 16-8 before the Tigers called a timeout. It didn’t do much good, as the Eagles closed the set on a 9-3 run to take the set, 25-11, and the match.
While many of the key cogs in this year’s tournament team will leave due to graduation this spring, Pieroni’s confident that the Tigers will be back in the tournament next season.
“Losing all of our seniors will be tough for sure,” Pieroni said. “But we’ve got a great group of junior varsity players and younger varsity players who will be ready to step into their shoes. We’ll all work hard over the summer and try to get back here next season.”
Tech finishes the season with an 11-11 record.