We’re in the Endgame Now…
11/6/23
Coach Reslow’s Prediction Score to date… 12 - 4
One match to get to Rhode Island College and play for all the marbles! Often times, this semi-final week has more crazy play then the finals. Plus, this playoff season has been full of five-set matches meaning we got plenty of even talented squads duking it out and making things happen in pressure situations. Fun to watch!
So, enjoy the upcoming games because I got a feeling it’s going to be a wild ride!
D4 Final Four…
Shea vs. Blackstone Valley at St. Raphael’s - The expected opponent for the Raiders, The Valley enters the semi-finals with a solid victory over Davies in four sets. Neutral court time, so both teams visit St. Rays. Hard to tell how this one is going to go. Shea has been the dominant team in D4 all year, however, dropping two late in the season to Hope and Mt. Pleasant along with surviving The Valley in five both times, gives pause as to how well this event may go for them. It is very hard to beat a playoff team three times in a season, so Shea must be cautious and precise here. The Valley knows they’ve been close to Shea twice before and have to be betting this being their time to break through. I still like Shea in this one but won’t be surprised if Blackstone is dancing at RIC either.
Providence Country Day vs. Mt. Pleasant at St. Raphael’s - PCD, the queens of the ace, see Mt. Pleasant the gritty team that took Shea to task…well, so did PCD. Add that Mt. Pleasant beat the Knights in five early in the season, then lost in four near the end of the campaign, and you have intrigue. Who will have the upper hand in this one? In my mind, it’ll come down to whether PCD's serving is on or not. When on, we’re talking about a team that can generate north of fifteen aces in a match! Ridiculous! When you’re cookin aces like that, it’s almost a double whammy situation, because the entire opponent’s serve receive crew is on edge and plenty of stress can equal more tough play. Should PCD not be able to harness their serving power, then Mt. Pleasant should be able to grind themselves out a win and a seat at the RIC table on Saturday. My pick remains PCD, but that serving ace thing is a tight rope walk and things can always change on a dime.
D3 Final Four…
Tiverton vs. Burrillville at Mt. Hope - One of the toughest outs in the D3 world has been Tiverton. They’ve played a lot of volleyball too, with six, five-set matches (Record: 3 - 3) and five, four-set matches (Record: 4 - 1)…and somehow obtained a bye with a 10-6 overall record. Byes are great, however, they do come with a caveat…time off. Tiverton will not have played a match in 11 days when they see Burrillville at Mt. Hope High School. That’s a lot of time off. Meanwhile, the Broncos of Burrillville survived a tough five-setter last week in the quarters against Juanita Sanchez and, if healthy, are ready to rock and roll. In their only meeting in the regular season, Tiverton bested Burrillville in four, but that was on the Tiger’s home ice. We’re in neutral territory now, and again, I worry about that time off vs. a team that just grinded out a tough one to advance. I’m staying with Burrillville getting it done, by dominating the middle, however it’s been the pattern all season that the Tigers do not go quietly…often not at all.
Tolman vs. Scituate at Mt. Hope - Tolman got their revenge on Narragansett in the quarterfinals as the Mariners had beat them at the mid-point of the season which sort of dazzled the Tigers to a couple of loses after the fact. The four-set win solidified Tolman’s position in the semis where they’ll see the quietly dangerous Scituate Spartans. With a new coach, Scituate stayed below the radar for a long time until the second half of the campaign. All of a sudden, they had a five-match winning streak and then all of sudden more, they were the fourth overall seed in the D3 world! The Spartans have seen Tolman twice already, falling in three and four respectively. Could third time be the charm? I have Tolman moving on as I think the Tigers have more firepower at the net. Spartans, however, have been underestimated all season and they went to Block Island and came away with the five-set Vic! Any team that can take the ferry and battle…well, that says it all.
D2 Final Four…
East Providence vs. Barrington at North Kingstown - If this one was at East Providence, the feeling would be the Eagles are in some trouble. Granted, the Eagles may be in some trouble anyway, as knocking off an undefeated team that’s only dropped four sets all season and can score from anywhere…well, that’s a pretty tall order. Adding the advantage of home court, however, would seemingly stifle most, if not all hope, for Barrington. That being said, they play the games for a reason, and just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it cannot be done. On the contrary, upsets happen all the time, and the Eagles aim to misbehave in this one. Townies are loaded and they marched through Cranston West. Eagles had to survive a five-set thriller with Middletown to get to this point and bet it’s going to take another five-setter to remove EP from the playoff equation. Barrington saw East Providence early in the season and bowed out in three. Both teams are different now so that result doesn’t mean much. Should the Eagles be able to slow down the Townies just enough to get in striking range (hanging in there like a leaf on the wind), Barrington does have the horses to do it. Just like the Townies, Barrington has solid pins, a good libero, solid setting, and serve tough. Passing will probably be the key to it all, as it often is. I like the Townies here, however the sweet serenity that could follow should they fall…who’d want to miss that?
Cumberland vs. Mt. Hope at North Kingstown - The Clippers and the Huskies doing battle once again. When they first met, Mt. Hope disrupted Cumberland’s plans to stay neck and neck with the Townies until their eventual meeting day. This loss defined the Clips for a bit and took a little time to shake off, meanwhile costing them the second seed. Then again, maybe it was a blessing in disguise as seeing Westerly over Bay View was probably the better fit. Clips handled the Bulldogs in three, while the Huskies were in the fight of their playoff lives with the Bengals, having to throw the kitchen sink at them to go away. With both clubs taking a trip to North Kingstown High School, it’s hard to tell who is favored now. For comfortability purposes alone, it’s a good bet that Cumberland is happy to go to a neutral site rather than seeing the Huskies in their home barn. In terms of match ups, it’s pretty close, too. Clips have the advantage at the middle one and libero spots, Huskies have the advantage at the setter and outside hitter one spots. Push everywhere else. I like Cumberland in five here mainly because I think the Clips are due. Huskies had to work very hard against Bay View and that may produce some tired legs, especially late in the match. Granted, if Mt. Hope can force their will on Cumberland early, bouncing them in three seems possible. Thus, the longer the match goes, the more advantageous for the Clippers. Either way, this should be a good one and the eventual outcome will probably be in a nail-biting fashion.
D1 Final Four…
North Kingstown vs. La Salle Academy at Rhode Island College - Standard outing for the Skippers against a solid Classical side gets them to the semis. Tessa LeFrenier had a strong outing and Ella Maack and Syd Henson did their thing. Meanwhile, The Rams survived a five-set thriller with Portsmouth at the Patriots barn. Maisy Naff and Olivia Higgins hit over .200 and .300 respectively whereas Kaelyn Whitaker amassed 10 kills and hit a .391 in the middle. With Higgins and now Whitaker in the middle, La Salle looks to be betting that the Skippers vulnerability may be in the center of the net. Got to pass well enough to run it, but it sure beats trying to get by Maack and Annie Draper on the left. I still think NK has too many weapons, but this one will be a battle as the Rams were the only team to beat the Skippers in the regular season…and should any piece on the chess board for either side break down mentally…well, that team will watch from the sidelines on Saturday.
Coventry vs. Chariho at Rhode Island College - Coventry’s four-set win over South Kingstown was interesting as I thought the Rebels would prevail. We had yet to see a strong controlled match from the Oakers who had feasted on teams that were battling their own struggles…though you can’t blame Coventry as you play who is on your schedule. Granted they had beaten SK before, but it had appeared the Rebels had turned the corner. In a playoff filled with five-set slugfests, a four-set win shows that the Oakers are not playing around. They do, however, have a tough semifinal opponent in front of them now in Chariho. The Chargers took care of business against the plucky Avengers in three sets. Chariho has beaten Coventry twice already, both in four, so it’s within reason that we sort of know how this is going to go…however, it’s really hard to beat a playoff team three times in a season. Liv Rollinson, Addison Patrick, and Abby Spadoni will all need ten or more kills for the Oakers to get it done in my opinion. Jules White and Katja Nelson have carried the offense for the dynamic Chargers with Lexi Cole and Emma Kocab playing premier roles as well in their success. I believe Chariho comes out of this one in four, but there is this itch that keeps whispering it’s the Oakers time…
ResV Player(s) of the Week (9) - Abby Crowley (La Salle) - Big numbers everywhere on the first week of playoffs. Harmony Forrest (Classical) and Hailey Labonte (Portsmouth) both put up 17 kills! Deana Baez (Classical) notched 45 assists in her match vs. Mount Saint Charles. Lyla Auth (Westerly) had a monster night against EWG. Kasey Dillon and Sophia Denham had very strong nights in Barrington’s win against Middletown. However, Abby Crowley’s night at Portsmouth was the tops. 44 assists, 17 digs, 7 aces, 2 blocks and a kill in the upset of Portsmouth at one of the toughest gyms to play at.
Big Games from the prior week of playoff action…
Maggie Ray (Mount Saint Charles) - 10 kills, 13 digs at Classical
Emma Roberts (Mount Saint Charles) - 5 kills, 5 blocks at Classical
Maize Phillips (Mount Saint Charles) - 5 kills, 6 aces at Classical
Harmony Forrest (Classical) - 17 kills, 5 digs versus Mount Saint Charles
Taliyah Pereira (Classical) - 23 kills, 8 digs versus Mount Saint Charles
Deana Baez (Classical) - 45 assists, 6 digs versus Mount Saint Charles
Lyla Auth (Westerly) - 10 kills, 7 aces, 3 blocks, 22 digs, and 27 assists versus Exeter-West Greenwich
Emma Caracciolo (Westerly) - 10 kills, 7 aces, 3 digs versus Exeter-West Greenwich
Alexandra Stoehr (Westerly) - 23 digs, 3 aces, 2 assists versus Exeter-West Greenwich
Erin Tierney (Exeter-West Greenwich) - 12 kills, 7 blocks, 6 aces at Westerly
Brooke Menna (Cranston West) - 10 kills, 4 blocks at North Smithfield
Sophia Denham (Barrington) - 29 assists, 11 kills, 7 digs versus Middletown
Kasey Dillon (Barrington) - 13 kills, 12 digs, 5 aces versus Middletown
Aiden Riley (Middletown) - 5 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces at Barrington
Maugham Parsley (Middletown) - 18 digs, 3 aces at Barrington
Syd Henson (North Kingstown) - 14 digs, 2 aces versus Classical
Ella Maack (North Kingstown) - 27 assists, 8 digs, 7 aces, 2 kills versus Classical
Kaelyn Whitaker (La Salle) - 14 kills, 2 blocks at Portsmouth
Abby Crowley (La Salle) - 44 assists, 7 aces, 17 digs at Portsmouth
Maizy Naff (La Salle) - 16 kills, 14 digs at Portsmouth
Sofia D’Agostino (La Salle) - 28 digs at Portsmouth
Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth) - 35 assists, 20 digs, 2 kills versus La Salle
Hailey Labonte (Portsmouth) - 17 kills, 9 digs versus La Salle
Avery Pelletier (Portsmouth) - 10 kills, 15 digs versus La Salle
Selly Garcia (Tolman) - 14 kills, 5 aces, 5 digs versus Narragansett
Trinity Burk (Tolman) - 11 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces versus Narragansett
Avery Gomes (Bay View) - 16 kills, 2 aces, 15 digs at Mt. Hope
Gianna Paolina (Bay View) - 30 assists, 2 kills, 2 aces at Mt. Hope
Jules White (Chariho) - 11 kills, 8 digs with an ace and a block versus East Greenwich
Emma Kocab (Chariho) - 21 digs, 4 aces, 3 assists versus East Greenwich
Lexi Cole (Chariho) - 27 assists, 3 kills, 3 blocks versus East Greenwich
Mackenzie Marcoux (North Smithfield) - 31 assists, 2 kills, 6 digs, and an ace at Cranston West
ResV Player of the Week…
Week 1 - Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth)
Week 2 - Lyla Auth (Westerly)
Week 3 - Ella Maack (North Kingstown)
Week 4 - Casey Weaver (Lincoln)
Week 5 - Deana Baez (Classical)
Week 6 - Jules White (Chariho) / Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth)
Week 7 - Mia Shaw (Mt. Hope)
Week 8 - Morgan Martin (Barrington) / Kayleigh Garrepy (North Kingstown)
Week 9 - Abby Crowley (La Salle)
Reminder! The ResV All-Star Match will be taking place in June (looking at the 15th as the potential date) so if you’re on the board or ready to be a fan of the best volleyball matches of the year, block off that time now!
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
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