North Quincy girls volleyball captures third ACL title

QUINCY -- The North Quincy High School girls volleyball team clinched its third straight Atlantic Coast League title behind a focused effort and timely hitting to beat visiting Quincy Wednesday in three close games.
Quincy matched the Red Raiders (17-2, 12-0) the whole way in each game, but North seemed to find a way to pull out each with scores of 26-24, 25-23, 25-22. The victory gave the Raiders their second 3-0 win over their rivals and a third straight season undefeated in league play.

"We knew it was going to be a tough match going in, but coach (Kerry) Ginty told us to keep our cool, play your position and do what you do and we were able to do that," North Quincy senior captain Becca Goreham said.

Each game featured a tie during the late action: the first game was tied at 24-all, the second at 23-all and the third at 22-all. North's defense kept it alive and Virginia Wong came through with a big kill to help the Raiders take the first while fellow senior captain Becca Stanton slammed the winning kill in the other two tilts.

"It was just back and forth; it could go either way," Quincy coach Jacqui Niosi said. "Any point could have been different and the outcome could have been different. They played tough defense, they played scrappy defense and I think that gave them the extra points."

North coach Kerry Ginty said she felt the same way about the match, which was quicker than she expected but just as tough.

"I'm surprised that it's over in three because they played so well," she said. "We knew it was going to be a good match and a battle.

"The fact that we pulled it out at the end of each of those games I can't even explain it -- it was wonderful."

Seniors Liz Bock and Meagan Tobin combined for four kills to help help Quincy turn a 12-11 deficit into a 15-13 lead in the third game. Stanton got a kill to tie it at 17-all before Goreham converted a kill for a 19-18 lead, and Catey Santon responded for the Presidents with a kill to knot it at 19-all. Thanks to strong defense and big plays by Wong and Stanton, though, the Raiders edged out the clinching points.

"We were having a hard time passing (in that game) but I knew we were going to pull it out in the end because of our defense," Goreham said.

North Quincy also rode strong performances from Kathleen and Julie Lynch, Jess Ainsley and Rushri Wijesundera, who has become a bigger part of the offense as the season has progressed.

"We're deep and we're well-rounded," Ginty said. "Everybody has a couple things they excel in."

While Niosi and her team were disappointed with the outcome, the knowledge that five of the six games they've played their rivals this season could have gone either way could certainly motivate the squad get deep enough into the sectional tournament to find their rivals again.

"You never know," Niosi said. "It's really tough to beat a good team or an evenly matched team three matches in a row, so hopefully we have that in our favor."

Tim Coughlin may be reached at tcoughlin@ledger.com.

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