Academy
volleyball
juggernaut
The Woodstock Academy volleyball team got well-acquainted with the yellow bus and both Interstates 395 and 95 last week.
The Centaurs played three road games, two of the long-distance variety on the bookends.
The Centaurs finished their travels Sept. 21 with a one-hour plus trek down to Groton to play the Fitch Falcons after starting the week with a long ride to Newtown and, in between, a trip to Norwich to play Norwich Free Academy.
The Centaurs were successful in all three, winning by identical 3-0 scores over NFA and Newtown and added a 3-1 victory over Fitch.
The Centaurs ended the week 7-0 overall and have swept the first round of matches against their Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I opponents, going 3-0 against East Lyme, NFA and Fitch.
Still, it wasn’t easy.
“It was a trying week,” said Centaurs volleyball coach Adam Bottone. “When we looked ahead last week to what this week was going to bring, we knew it was going to be a challenge because all of the teams were good. Newtown was good, NFA was undefeated and Fitch always gives us trouble especially in their gym. So to travel and be successful in three games like that is a testament to the girls and what they do both on and off the court.”
Sometimes, a team just has to overpower its opponent.
That’s essentially what the Centaurs did Sept. 21 in Groton.
The Woodstock Academy won the first set, 25-13, but Fitch rallied for a 25-18 win in the second.
That’s when Bottone unleashed his hitters, Paula Hernandez and Natalie Low.
Hernandez had 31 kills and Low 21 as the Centaurs reeled off victories of 25-20 and 25-14 to walk away with the victory.
“The Falcons were a solid team with a strong defense and a dominant middle attack,” Bottone said. “After dropping the second set, we rallied behind the hitting of Paula and Natalie.”
The two hitters did have help.
Sammie Orlowski contributed 49 assists while Maddy Gronski was solid in the back with 30 digs.
Low added 14 digs and middle hitter Amelia Large had a couple of blocks.
It was a long ride for a short match against Newtown.
The Centaurs didn’t waste much time, winning the three games, 25-19, 25-13, and 25-18.
“I think the catalyst was us changing our defense and stepping that up. We kind of went back to the fundamentals and broke it down,” Bottone said. “Against Newtown, it was evident that the girls responded to what we’ve been doing in practice. Our back row was phenomenal. The front row struggled a little bit.”
Hernandez had 20 kills for the Centaurs while Orlowski had 20 assists and Gronski added 20 digs.
Gronski, a senior, had missed the previous two games due to illness.
“She needed the rest. The girls were really tired and the job of Libero is pretty much non-stop,” Bottone said. “Giving her some time off and letting Bekah (Wesler) play, getting Bekah more experience, and she stepped up and played well, is good, but Maddy is a rock back there
Low had 11 kills and 12 digs.
Door-to-door, the Centaurs spent two hours on the road one way.
That was longer than the match took.
“We like playing them,” Bottone said. “It’s good to play team that are far away who are good so when you get into state tournament play, if your seeding is not that great, it’s not foreign to you to travel that far. We’ve had a great relationship with Newtown since we started to play them in 2011. It’s always good competition.”
Even though the result seems one-sided, Bottone said Newtown did manage to block Hernandez on several occasions.
That meant the Centaurs had to get others, like Low, involved in the hitting and they made a difference for the Centaurs.
“The thing I’ve noticed about Natalie, more than her hitting, is her passing out of receive, which is much better than last year. That, combined with her getting double-digit kills every game, is huge. I think what it shows to teams is that we’re more than just one player,” Bottone said.
The Centaurs ended the Wildcats’ undefeated start at three with the 25-10, 25-15, 25-13 shutout Sept. 19.
Low had 16 digs and 12 kills for the Centaurs while Hernandez added 19 kills and Orlowski had 24 assists.
We kind of put it all together against NFA. Got a lot of touches from the front row, including some blocks. It’s coming together,” Bottone said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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