Printer Friendly Version - Valley Volleyball Finishes Regular Season at 17-3; Cross Country Hits the Trails in States

Junior Emily Hutchinson has been turning up the heat around the net for the Warriors’ volleyball team. Hutchinson piled up the blocks last week to help Valley net three wins and finish the regular season at 17-3. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Valley Regional volleyball squad collected three more wins last week to put its 2017 regular season record at 17-3, marking the Warriors’ best record in 20 years. Valley open the postseason by playing in this week’s Shoreline Conference Tournament.

On Oct. 23, the Warriors hit the road to go up against North Branford and won 3-0 behind final scores of 25-13, 25-9, and 25-17. Jessica Paholski notched 16 service points with six aces, 17 kills, and 12 digs, while Hannah Clark had 12 service points with five aces and added 34 assists. Emily Hutchinson hit five kills and had three blocks, Alex Figuenick had two aces with 17 digs, while Electra Cassells added 12 kills.

Two days later, Valley played a match at home against Coginchaug on Senior Night and prevailed 3-2 in a tug-of-war battle. Valley won the first and third sets, 25-15 and 25-19, while Coginchaug prevailed in the second and fourth sets, 25-20 and 25-22, to force a decisive fifth set, which Valley won 15-9. Heidi Clark scored 14 points on serve, and Hannah Clark added three aces with 11 service points to complement her 36 assists. Maddy Just had two aces and 12 service points, Alex Figenick had 14 points on serve with 30 receptions and 23 digs, Paholski added 45 attacks and 19 kills, plus Hutchinson had four blocks and five kills.

Then on Oct. 27, the Warriors went up against Fitch and won 25-17, 22-25, 25-13, and 25-19 to earn the 3-1 victory. Figuenick had 23 digs and 28 receptions with eight points on serve, Paholski provided 14 digs, 10 kills, and five aces; Cassells notched 12 kills and 13 digs, Hutchinson owned the net with five kills and four blocks, and Heidi Clark supplied 13 digs with five aces.

The Warriors headed to Wickham Park in Manchester for the Class SS State Championship on Oct. 28 and earned 11th place as a team.

Addie Byars came in 17th place by posting a time of 21 minutes and 23 seconds for the Warriors. Caitlyn Bogan finished 52nd with a time of 24:07, Audrey Lenda placed 57th (24:21), Lacey Hall was 74th (25:46), Hanna Babek came in 88th (27:25), and Charlotte Norling finished in 92nd with a mark of 27:48.

The Valley boys’ cross country team took part in the Class SS State Championship last week and placed 13th overall as a squad.

Jason Montecavo led the Warriors by finishing 26th with a time of 18:26. Macklin Miezejski finished 65th at 19:36, followed by Josh Arnum at 91st (20:10), Liam Miller in 92nd (20:11), Peter Halsey at 94th (20:15), Sean Davis in 127th (20:55), and Marcus SantaMaria in 142nd (21:38).

The Valley field hockey team faced off against Haddam-Killingworth on the road for a Shoreline Conference matchup on Oct. 28. The Warriors won 2-0 to move their record to 9-3-3 on the season. This week, Valley will play in the Shoreline Conference Tournament.

The Valley Regional boys’ soccer squad played two matches to close out the regular season, tying one and losing the other to put its record at 10-4-2.

On Oct. 25, the Warriors faced off against Haddam-Killingworth at home in the rain, and the game finished in a 2-2 tie on Valley’s Senior Night. Valley fell behind the Cougars 2-0 in the first half, but came out strong after intermission. Adrian Sperzel picked up a goal on a penalty kick to bring Valley within one. With just 1:10 left in the game, Michael Dilger gained control of the ball and took it down the line, where he passed it to Sperzel for the game-tying goal.

The next day, Valley went to North Haven for a non-conference matchup and lost 2-1. North Haven was up 1-0 by the end of the first half and added another goal in the second half. With two minutes left in the game, Sperzel scored on a Dilger helper to make it 2-1. Although the Warriors had their chances in final seconds, North Haven held on for the win. Valley is competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament this week.

The Warriors’ girls’ soccer squad dropped two contests last week to finish the regular season with a record of 4-6-6.

On Oct. 23, the Warriors matched up with Old Saybrook at home and lost 2-1. Five days later, Valley was on the road to face Old Lyme and took a 4-0 defeat.

Caitlyn Bogan finished in 52nd place for the Warriors’ girls’ cross country team at last week’s Class SS State Championship. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier