Bolts fall to NK in semis

By RYAN D. MURRAY
Posted 11/20/19

By RYAN D. MURRAY The No. 4 seeded Cranston East Lady Thunderbolts were eliminated from the Girls Volleyball Division I Playoffs last Thursday after they were beaten by the undefeated, No. 1 seeded North Kingstown Skippers 3-1 (24-26), (25-12), (25-21),

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Bolts fall to NK in semis

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The No. 4 seeded Cranston East Lady Thunderbolts were eliminated from the Girls Volleyball Division I Playoffs last Thursday after they were beaten by the undefeated, No. 1 seeded North Kingstown Skippers 3-1 (24-26), (25-12), (25-21), (25-20) during their semifinal match at East Greenwich High School.

Leading the Skippers were Keri Spitler, 18 kills, five digs, and two aces, Haley Sawyer, nine kills and 11 digs and Jaime Harrington 31 digs and an ace.

Scoring the bulk of the Lady Bolts points was Lauren Milani, who finished with 15 kills, three blocks, and five digs. And after the game East head coach Meg McGonagle gave her junior outside hitter some high praise.

“Lauren Milani has been phenomenal all season,” McGonagle said. “She’s a great player. She’s definitely our best hitter. We couldn’t do it without our passers and our setter getting our sets to her, Kalliann (Khim), but Lauren is phenomenal. She’s the best player that we’ve probably had at Cranston East.”

And setting up Milani much of the time was Khim, a senior, who compiled 27 assists, one ace, and one block on the night.

“She has been my setter for the past two years and she’s been a big part of this team for quite a few years now,” McGonagle said. “She started swinging as a freshman, and then played a few minutes for us as a sophomore. So, Kalliann has been a major part of the team for as many years as she’s been on it. She’s been a key contributor. She’s been a captain, a great leader, a great role model, and I will definitely miss her.”

Courtney Holmes, East’s libero, totaled eight digs and Ella Glantz, a junior outside hitter, ended with six kills and an ace.

Narragansett took a 3-0 lead in the first set after Spitler scored with a spike, and then Sawyer followed with a point on serve and then a kill.

East fought back and tied the set at 6 after Soraya Bussatti-Espanol and Skye Kramer landed an ace each, and then Milani followed with a spike after an assist from Khim.

Next, the Lady Bolts got three points in a row when Milani scored with a block and a kill, and then Kramer scored a point on serve and gave East a 9-6 edge.

The Lady Bolts upped their advantage to as much as seven before the Skippers came crawling back and pulled within 19-18.

East created some breathing room when Bussatti-Espanol sent a kill into the middle and earned the Lady Bolts a 23-21 advantage.

But North would tie the set at 24 when Spitler smashed a spike off the hands of Khim.

Nevertheless, East obtained a 26-24 victory of the opening set when Milani blocked Cadia Greene, and then Khim passed to Bussatti-Espanol for a campfire-kill.

North’s Brooke Bolster scored the first point of the second set, and then Mckenzie Monroe recorded a block and Sawyer a kill, which gave the Skippers a 9-4 lead.

Next, the Skippers upped their buffer to 18-7 after a spike from Spitler, two aces from Ava Mattiucci, and a kill from Greene.

North got to game-point when Sawyer scored with a kill, and then Spitler a return, and that gave the Skippers a 25-12 victory of the second set.

“After the first set, I said that was an adrenaline set,” McGonagle said. “We were really excited to come in and play this semifinal match. We knew that we could compete with North Kingstown and that was kind of our big pump to kind of get the game started.”

“The second set, I said was their revenge,” McGonagle continued. “They came out with revenge because we had taken that first set on them. And I said when we were going into the third set - that was the real equalizer. This is when we’re going to both get to play our volleyball games, all the other things out of the way, and it would still be a good match.”

And the coach was correct, as the third set was much closer than the second, and the squads were knotted at 10 almost midway through.

But at that very point, North ran off seven straight points and acquired a 17-10 lead.

Next, North drew game-point when Julia Caruolo made a block, and then Bolster finished with a spike which secured the Skippers a 25-21 win of the third set.

The teams were tied at 6 in the fourth set before the Skippers created some separation which was capped by a soft kill from Sawyer, and it put North up 10-6.

Shortly after that, the Skippers got returns from Spitler, Noelle Tegan, and Elise Anoushian and grasped a 16-10 buffer.

East cut into the deficit and got it to 20-19 after a kill from Glantz.

But then, North scored five of the next six points, the last being a Sawyer kill, which gave the Skippers a 25-20 triumph of the fourth set and a 3-1 victory in the match.

East completed the regular season with six more wins than a year ago and the semifinal appearance gave the team a slightly better finish as well.

“Last year we made the playoffs at 8-8 and lost to Barrington in the Quarterfinals,” McGonagle said. “So, for our second year in Division I, to go this far and play this well against an undefeated past state champion . . . The girls played phenomenal. They really gave it their all. I really couldn’t say a bad word about tonight’s game.”

And as Khim, East’s senior setter, hangs up her jersey, she can hold her high knowing she and her teammates left it all on the floor.

“It felt amazing coming in really strong for our semifinal game,” Khim said. “Even though we lost, that first set meant a lot to us. The whole match meant a lot to us. And we played our hearts out.”

Khim played volleyball at East all four years, three of which were on the varsity squad.

“I love it,” Khim said. “These girls are amazing. You couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to play volleyball with. They’re fun, they work hard, and Coach McGonagle, she just pushes us way past our limits because she knows we can do better. . . This was my last year and honestly, it’s the best sports experience I’ve ever had. Coach McGonangle is the best.”

On Sunday, North went to the DI championship for the fifth year in a row and won its fourth straight title, beating La Salle Academy 3-0 (25-18), (25-19), (28-26) at Rhode Island College.

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