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11/05/2014 11:00 PMThe Morgan volleyball squad knew what it was up against when it faced Haddam-Killingworth for the Shoreline Conference title on Nov. 1 at Cross. After all, HK handed the Huskies their first regular season defeat in seven years back on Sept. 21 and, unfortunately for Morgan, the Cougars then ended another successful string in the third clash between the two.
No. 2 seeded Morgan took a 3-1 loss in the conference championship contest to top-ranked HK-snapping the Huskies' streak of 22 consecutive Shoreline crowns. Head Coach Joe Grippo said that it essentially came down to the Cougars executing their passing, serving, and overall offensive game-plan better than his club.
"HK played real well and we did not. They passed the ball better than we did and they were in their offense better than us," said Grippo. "They always serve tough and we usually handle it, but we did not in the finals."
The Cougars dropped the opening set by a 25-21 final, yet they then rattled off three straight wins with scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-19 to clinch the championship. For kills, senior Jen Dawson led all Huskies with 13 and fellow senior Kait Anderson added 11. In the digging column, senior Ashlyn Chidsey was tops with a dozen while senior Sami Ashton and Dawson each dropped in 11. Senior Vivian Tran earned a trio of blocks.
"Our best player, by far, was [junior] Emily Popp [29 assists]," said Grippo. "We had specific things we wanted to do to beat them and we did not execute our game-plan."
After dropping the opening set, HK (21-1) rebounded in the second. The Cougars and Huskies (20-2) played to a 15-15 tie and then HK broke through with a 10-1 run to even up the evening at one set apiece.
For the third set, the Cougars appeared to be in cruise control and on their way to a 2-1 lead by going ahead 23-13, yet the resilient Huskies used a quick five-point rush to cut their deficit in half prior to HK taking two of the next three points to conclude the third.
In the eventual final stanza, Morgan again made a later push to only trail 17-15, although the Cougars took the crown following an 8-4 spurt.
The Huskies, who are also the defending Class S state champions, still have the state tournament on the horizon. Morgan entered the draw as the No. 3 seed and could potentially see the top-seeded Cougars a fourth time in the final, which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. in Glastonbury.
"I am disappointed in the way we played [in the Shoreline final]," said Grippo, who will earn his 600th career victory with the Huskies next win. "We will attempt to reload and get after our opponents one at a time in states."