This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/27/2015 12:00 AMMorgan volleyball Coach Joe Grippo knew last week was going to be a tough stretch that would go a long way toward finding out what kind of squad he has this season. The Huskies entered the week with a 3-1 record and had a trio of matches against high-powered teams, beginning with last year’s Shoreline Conference and Class S state champion Haddam-Killingworth. The Huskies’ brutal stretch continued against undefeated Hale-Ray and finished up with a duel against another unbeaten squad in East Hampton. Regardless of how those matches went, Grippo figured to have a better gauge of his inexperienced group by week’s end. After shutting out H-K 3-0, Morgan wound up taking a 3-0 home defeat to Hale-Ray and then dropped a 3-2 decision in East Hampton for an overall record of 4-3 with a mark of 3-2 in the conference.
“We have talent, but lost a lot of players off last year’s team and have some inexperience,” the legendary coach said. “We’ve got some kids playing varsity for the first time and my hope is that we will be a much-better team as the year goes on.”
Morgan started its grueling stretch by taking H-K’s best shot and prevailed with a hard-fought, straight-sets victory (25-18, 25-14, 25-17) over the Cougars at home on Sept. 21. Led by Riley Smith with her 11 kills and aces, along with outside hitter Sami Ashton, who had nine kills and two aces, Morgan withstood an early barrage and took control of the match behind good passing from fellow senior Emily Popp (19 assists), plus some timely kills to get the win.
“Haddam-Killingworth lost a lot of players off last year’s championship team, as did we. I think both of us are trying to find our way this season,” said Grippo. “It was a competitive match, much more so than the scores would indicate. It was a good victory for us.”
The highly anticipated Shoreline Conference matchup against an unblemished Hale-Ray team followed on Sept. 23 and the host Huskies ran into a skilled squad that had an answer for whatever came its way on the court. Using deft passing and big hits, Hale-Ray always seemed to be in the right spot. Setter Mary Pease controlled the match for the opposition with 48 assists and Andrea Wordell proved unstoppable off those passes by converting 14 kills. Morgan struggled to get into its offense throughout most of the contest, but hung tough via strong showings from Ashton (9 kills) and Smith (8 kills) and fought back with a lot of grit to keep it close. In the end, however, Hale-Ray was on its game and took the match in straight sets, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20, to continue is undefeated start to the season.
“Hale-Ray is an outstanding team that has been building to this moment for a while,” Coach Grippo said. “We were surviving, trying to counter-punch, and it took a lot of work to keep the score close. They controlled the match and have a lot of good players. They were able to get into their offense much more than us and were very efficient with the ball, did a good job of keeping balls alive, and had great passing. They’re a diversified team. Nobody really stands out. They’re all just solid players who can hurt you from anywhere of the floor and they don’t have weaknesses.”
Morgan then ventured to East Hampton for the third and final leg of its big week and came out firing, but ultimately took a 3-2 defeat. The Huskies took the first two games, 25-17, 25-16, yet lost the last three by scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-11. Ashton had a stellar 21 kills to go along with three aces, Popp led the Huskies with 33 assists and also had three aces, while Smith added 14 kills.
“We passed the ball really well for the first game-and-a-half,” Coach Grippo said. “After that, our passing broke down and East Hampton took over the match.”
From The Sidelines
Morgan Coach Joe Grippo has led the Huskies to 12 state titles and has over 600 career wins.
Morgan won the Shoreline Conference an unprecedented 21-straight times from 1992 to 2013, until last season, when Haddam-Killingworth took the crown.
The Huskies have rematches with the three teams they faced last week in October. Morgan plays at Hale-Ray at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14; hosts East Hampton at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16; and then closes the regular season with a match at Haddam-Killingworth at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26.