Final Fours are Set and Coach Reslow Tapped to Call Championship Day!
11/9/22
Final Fours are set for RI Girls Volleyball! With a date at Rhode Island College on the line, four teams in all of the Divisions prepare to do battle tonight and tomorrow. Coach Reslow and Neil Nachbar will be on hand to call all the action of the finals on Saturday via stream for NFHS. You can follow all of the action and commentary here!
And with that, here are some quick predictions from Coach Reslow…
D1 - #1 North Kingstown vs. #3 Portsmouth - The only remaining team to beat the Skippers in the regular season is now looking to halt the brakes on their championship run. North has Portsmouth in their barn which helps a ton, as no one wants to step foot in Portsmouth’s gym…we hear it’s haunted! So, home court advantage Skippers, however the Patriots are very dangerous. Morgan Casey has been lights out in the second half of the season and the Portsmouth serving can cause many issues. Count on North’s Mackenzie Lonergan to be the difference in this one, sending the Skippers to the show.
D1 - #2 South Kingstown vs. #4 Coventry - The Rebels host the surprise Oakers for a chance at the title. South would love an opportunity to go back-to-back and hosting the semi-finals gives them the home field advantage in this one. Coventry did pull the upset at La Salle, though. Can they do it again on the road? Certainly, however it will take huge games from Taylor Stevenin and Abigail Spadoni for Coventry to shock SK tonight. Look for Sierra Thompson to have a strong net presence for the Rebels as they advance to the Finals.
D2 - #7 Chariho vs. #12 Middletown - The Chargers have yet to smell the decay of defeat and hosting Middletown at the cave makes it hard to think it’ll happen in this match. The cave has been lights out for the Chargers all year. The Wave are dangerous, however, and have put pressure on most of the teams they’ve seen this season. If Middletown can serve tough enough, they’ll have a shot. In my mind, however, Jules White will go above 10 kills and lead the Chargers to RIC.
D2 - #8 East Providence vs. #9 Cumberland - The Townies host and they are looking for a little pay back. Last time EP saw Cumberland, it was a four set vic for the Clippers, though many of the sets could have gone either way. Cumberland has battled back from a slide late in the season, however, and is now ready to deal EP a blow. Can Breannah Abilheira-Cargill and company make enough plays to put the Townies away for a second time? In a close one, I have Keira Mullen and East Providence advancing.
D3 - #14 Central Falls vs. #15 Scituate - One never says that the semi-final is the real championship out loud, however this one may be close, or at least in the minds of the Warriors it may just be. After Scituate upset them in the finals last year, Central Falls has been gearing up for this moment. Scituate has struggled a little this year, however they did last year as well, and we know how that turned out. I think this time around, though, Joana Rodrigues is too much, and the Warriors go to the finals.
D3 - Bay View vs. Narragansett - Bay View hosts the D4 champs of last year in this semi. Throughout the season, Bay View has played solid volleyball, only falling to Central Falls and Scituate. Narragansett entered the D3 fray and did a nice job in their own right landing a solid seed in the playoffs and then winning a huge five set victory over Tolman to advance. I like Bay View at home to get this one done and hitch a bus ride to the RIC.
D4 - Providence Country Day vs. Davies - PCD has held the top spot from start to finish in the regular season and thus earned a bye from the quarters. Davies took care of business and handed a three-set defeat to Shea to get out of the first round, which was significant because Shea was a solid club. With that being said, I think PCD at home is too much for Davies and thus Providence Country Day will move on to the final showcase showdown.
D4 - Mt. Pleasant vs. Hope - The 2 / 3 seed semi-final match features a Mt. Pleasant squad that has only lost to PCD…well, actually, they lost to Hope in five sets at the beginning of the season as well. They did go on to hand Hope a three-set defeat later on, but Hope has, well, hope! Something about this Hope team give me pause…I think I’m going with Hope in this one. They’ll serve tougher than Mt. Pleasant and come out in five.
ResV Week 9 Rankings…
North Kingstown (16 - 2)
South Kingstown (13 - 4)
(↑ 1) Portsmouth (13 - 6)
(↑ 4) Coventry (10 - 7)
(↓ 2) La Salle (12 - 5)
(↓ 1) East Greenwich (12 - 7)
(↓ 1) Chariho (17 - 0)
(↓ 1) East Providence (17 - 2)
(↑ 2) Cumberland (13 - 4)
(↓ 1) Mount Saint Charles (8 - 10)
(↓ 1) Classical (8 - 10)
Middletown (11 - 5)
Pilgrim (10 - 7)
Central Falls (13 - 1)
Scituate (13 - 4)
To send season updates, stories, and players to consider…or inquire about coffee beans that Coach roasts himself, to Coach Reslow - Scott.Reslow@protonmail.com