Printer Friendly Version - Three Tigers’ Teams Punch Their State Tourney Tickets

Senior Summer Adams and the Tigers qualified for states by posting a 3-0 sweep against Cross on Oct. 7. Hand went on to beat Lyman Hall and lose to Shelton later in the week. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source

The Hand girls’ volleyball team qualified for the Class L State Tournament by winning two of its three contests last week. Hand earned a 3-0 win over Cross on Oct. 7, defeated Lyman Hall by that same score on Oct. 9, and then took a 3-0 loss to Shelton on Oct. 11. The Tigers have a record of 9-4 on the season.

Hand defeated Cross by the final score of 25-8, 25-15 and 25-10 to qualify for states. Allie Nelson had 10 kills and five aces with Summer Adams adding five aces in the victory.

The Tigers went on to notch a 25-11, 25-17, 25-22 win over Lyman Hall. Nelson had eight kills and two aces, while Adams posted five kills, seven digs, and two aces.

The Tigers punched their ticket into the Class M State Tournament last week. Hand made states by recording a 7-1 victory versus Shelton on Oct. 8. Three days later, Hand blanked Lyman Hall by an 8-0 score to improve to 8-4 this fall.

Hand qualified for the Class L State Tournament after earning a tie and a victory last week. On Oct. 8, the Tigers battled Guilford to a 0-0 draw at the Surf Club to seal their place in states. Then on Oct. 10, Hand edged out Branford by a 2-1 score to improve to 6-1-3.

Jack Wildermann scored both goals for Hand against Branford. Wildermann took a pass from Jason Wallack and scored to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with six minutes left in the opening half. Wildermann made it a 2-0 game by scoring off a 30-yard direct kick just two minutes into the second stanza. Sophomore Tim Perez turned aside five shots in net for the Tigers.

Following a 3-0 loss to Guilford on Oct. 8, the Tigers bounced back with a 3-1 win over Mercy on Oct. 11. Hand has a record of 5-4-1 and is drawing closer to a berth in the Class L State Tournament.

Hand trailed Mercy 1-0 in the first half before scoring three-straight goals. Thirty-five seconds after Mercy’s first goal, Mia Forti retrieved a loose ball in front of net and sent it to senior Chloe Thompson, who buried it for the score. Freshman Maya Howard scored on a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box to make it 2-1 at halftime.

The Tigers scored their final goal early in the second half when Howard crossed the ball to Forti, who kicked it just inside the far post from 12 yards out for a 3-1 advantage. Brooke Salutari and Maddie Thomas split the goalkeeping duties for the Tigers.

Hand finished its regular season by a splitting a tri-meet at the East River Preserve in Guilford last week. The Tigers earned a 20-39 win against Foran and took a 15-48 loss versus host Guilford to finish the regular season with a mark of 7-2.

Following a bye week for Week 5, the Tigers will return to the field for a non-conference road game against Norwalk at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18. Hand enters the game with a record of 4-0 and a 28-game win streak in tact. Norwalk has a mark of 2-2 on the year.

After defeating Foran by the score of 99-81 on Oct. 7, the Tigers took their first loss of the year with a 101-82 defeat at North Haven on Oct. 11. Hand now stands with a record of 7-1 on the campaign.

The Tigers earned eight first-place finishes in their victory over Foran. Freshman Julia Urbowicz took first place in the 200 freestyle (2:08.44) and the 100 backstroke (1:08.44) to lead the way. Other wins were captured by junior Emma Ruffo in the 100 butterfly (1:09.01), along with Sophie Cadematori in the 100 freestyle (1:04.03), senior Grace Vest in the 500 freestyle (6:08.44), and freshman Eva Alquist in the diving competition with 177.30 points.

Hand’s 200 medley relay of junior Alexa Betts, sophomore Abbi Chemacki, senior captain Erin Reilly, and junior Ava Keane finished first in 2:05.66. The 200 freestyle relay of Vest, Reilly, Keane, and senior captain Kayla Mendonca also came in first place.

Other runner-up finishes were turned in by Vest in the 200 freestyle (2:19.50) and the 500 freestyle (6:08.44), Cadematori the 200 individual medley (2:37.02), Chemacki in the 50 freestyle (29:14), and sophomore Kacie Wines in the 100 butterfly (1:04.03) and the 100 backstroke (1:10.20). Betts took third in the 500 freestyle 6:19.90, while Kylie Scarpellino finished third in 200 freestyle at 2:19.71.

Junior Jack Wildermann and the Hand boys’ soccer squad secured a berth in the Class L State Tournament with a 0-0 tie against Guilford, then capped off their week with a 2-1 win versus Branford. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source