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10/25/2014 12:00 AMThe Haddam-Killingworth volleyball team wants to send its legendary head coach out on top in his final year with a state title and the Cougars are well on their way to that wish after concluding a dominant regular season.
Head Coach Richard Langer is in his 40th and final campaign with the Cougars. Entering its season finale at North Branford on Oct. 24, HK carried in a mark of 18-1 and each of those wins came by way of a sweep—including one over 22-time defending Shoreline Conference champion Morgan. The Cougars didn’t get out the brooms, yet they still finished the season at an impressive 19-1 following a 3-1 decision over the Thunderbirds with set victories of 25-10, 25-12, and 25-11.
“You have no idea how bad we all want to win the state title for Coach Langer in his last year. We want it so bad and will do whatever it takes,” said senior Olivia Parmelee. “We’ve just bonded as a team this year. We are all best friends and we don’t let ourselves get down when we play. We focus on being aggressive, going for every ball, and not letting any ball hit the ground.”
Parmelee finished with 13 kills and six aces and fellow senior Mackenzie Hinds also tallied 13 kills. Additionally in the attacking category, senior Lauren Brough had a dozen kills; plus senior Carly Church dished out 41 assists.
“It’s just the chemistry this year that’s working for us,” said Church. “We’ve been playing together for so long year round, so we just know each other very well. It’s an honor to have Coach Langer as our coach. We’ve [the seniors] been close with him since our freshman year and he is a great coach both on and off the court. He understands us and works with us; he is lenient about plays we want to make and our own ideas.”
In the first set, North Branford (4-16) took a quick 2-0 lead, but HK answered with five straight to go ahead. The T-Birds then had a five-point rally of their own to gain an 8-7 advantage, yet the Cougars came back with another five consecutive tallies prior to going on a 10-0 run to close out the opener.
For the second, North Branford again had an early edge (2-1), but that was its only lead for the set as HK took command with a seven-score run, along with four three-tally spurts to seal the second.
“These girls all work very hard in the offseason and this is like the easiest year of coaching for me,” said Langer, who has guided HK to seven Class S state final bids since 1991, winning a title that same year against Morgan. “They are just that good. They can adjust, play well together, and know how to cover.”
The Cougars looked primed for another sweep by taking a 6-1 lead to begin the third. Although the Thunderbirds notched 10 in a row to go up by five, the two sides fought to a 20-20 deadlock later. Following both squads exchanging points, HK went ahead 24-23 prior to North Branford collecting the next trio to earn the 26-24 victory.
“I wanted to play a lot of people because it’s the end of the regular season and I wanted to give them a chance to play before the postseason,” said Langer. “Not to take any credit away from North Branford, because they did a great job in that third game. I wanted to let the team decide if they could pull it out or not. It didn’t affect us at all; we came back with our regular lineup and it made a big difference.”
The Cougars regrouped in strong fashion for the eventual final set. The score was 6-6 as HK rattled off nine straight and never looked back—taking ownership of 10 of the set’s final 15 tallies.
The Cougars begin the Shoreline Conference Tournament next week and two straight wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds would put HK in the championship final on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Cross at 6 p.m. Following the league draw, the Cougars then begin the Class S State Tournament with a home game in the first round on Monday, Nov. 3, looking for their first state final appearance since 2007.
“I think they are comfortable with what they are doing and are ready to move onto the next stage,” said Langer. “It should be an interesting postseason.”