RallyNorth.net

Londonderry wins first state volleyball title

Saturday, November, 07 By Jeff Hamrick

DERRY N.H. — There's a new boss in New Hamphshire girls volleyball, and Londonderry claimed its first title by soundly thumping the old boss.

Playing in the title game for the first time in school history, the Lancers ran past defending-champion Spaulding three games to one last night at Pinkerton Academy. Londonderry (19-2) defeated the Red Raiders (19-2) for the second time this year while closing the season with its 12th consecutive victory.

"It's just an awesome way to end," said Julie Wojewoda, one of only two seniors on the Lancers' roster. "Over the summer I thought we were going to have a good team, but I never anticipated making it this far."

After claiming a narrow 26-24 win in the opening game by scoring seven of the final eight points, Londonderry looked like it might have to wait another year, watching the Red Raiders run away with a 25-15 win in the second. Spaulding used a 10-2 run to open a 13-4 lead and never looked back.

"We just needed to execute our game," Londonderry coach Peter Willis said. "We needed to make sure we stayed up and didn't give them a lot of momentum to come back. They're a team that loves power and they're going to push your defense to the edge. We just had to stay with them. The thing is they couldn't score more than 25 and once they score 25 you reset and start all over again. Our girls never quit. They want to win every point."

But just as quickly as they lost the advantage, the Lancers turned things around. An 8-0 run with Katie Schwarz serving and Shay Collins providing winners on the front line gave Londonderry an early 12-5 lead. A couple kills by Megan Schwarz helped increase the lead to 17-8. The Lancers eventually took a 12-point lead before winning 25-14 and taking a 2-games-to-1 advantage.

"(Spaulding) was our roughest competition this year," Katie Schwarz said. "We knew they would come back at us in the second game, but we knew we could get the momentum back in the third game. I think we started talking better. We communicated and worked together and got ourselves back."

In the clinching game, Londonderry broke open a 7-7 deadlock behind the Schwarz twins. The two combined for 18 winners in a 25-15 win.

"I know tonight (the Red Raiders) were serving and hitting a lot at the twins, trying to wear them down," Willis said. "But the thing is, I'm not sure you can wear the twins down."

And moments after winning the program's first title, the Lancers already were looking forward to 2010.

"It's not too early to think about next year at all," Katie Schwarz said. "We'll be hoping to come back and do the same thing."

Despite losing only two matches this year, it wasn't until a month ago that even Willis believed his team could be the last team standing.

"I think the real eye opener was the night (Oct. 14) Spaulding came to our place," he said. "They're the defending-state champion with a 22-match winning streak. They had us down 2-0 that night but we came back. That told me we had a chance at winning (a title). We do graduate two incredible presences in the back row (Katie Heffernan and Wojewoda) but the building blocks are there ... We've got possiblities."