New Canaan’s Emily Johnson gets set to serve against Stamford.
Dave Stewart / Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD — When the New Canaan volleyball team dropped the first set in its match at Stamford in a gym which has typically been a tough place for it to win, it could have spelled doom.
This group of Rams, however, has been playing with a great deal of confidence and quickly turned the tables on the host Black Knights.
New Canaan rallied to take the next three sets and rolled to a 3-1 victory over Stamford on Thursday, winning by scores of 23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19.
It was the Rams’ first win over the Black Knights since 2010, when their current coach Kevin Marino was still in high school, and New Canaan’s 5-1 start to the season is its best since 2011.
“This is a big win for us,” Marino said. “We haven’t beaten Stamford in a few years which shows how good of a team they are, so for us to come in here and get a win is exciting and promising for us. The biggest thing has been getting them to play with confidence. We have little drop-offs here and there where we’re not playing confidently, but then they pick it back up.”
Key to New Canaan’s victory were a great defense, led by junior Libero Annie Gravereaux and her 17 digs, and a strong passing game which featured several standouts, including junior setter Elle Sneddon, who had 34 assists.
The Rams also began communicating well after the first-set loss.
“The fact that we talked more means that we’re going to be playing together against a team and not as individual players,” Gravereaux said. “It also means the ball won’t fall between us because that happened a few times and we had to overcome that.”
New Canaan wins a long point to secure second set #ctvb @GameTimeCT pic.twitter.com/rwnegKYraw
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) September 26, 2019
The match was a big one in the FCIAC, as both New Canaan and Stamford figure to be in the playoff hunt this season. While the Rams moved up in the standings, the Knights dropped to 2-4 with their third straight loss.
“It was New Canaan’s passing,” Stamford coach Mike Smeriglio said. “They were able to keep a lot of balls in play and it was very hard to score against them. That’s the whole game.”
Stamford’s Morgan Yacavone led the Knights with 27 digs, and setter Sarah Wargo collected 29 assists, three kills, and nine service points.
The Knights were solid in the first set, as they earned a 25-23 win. Trailing 24-19, the Rams held off four straight set points before Stamford finished it off.
In the second set, New Canaan grabbed an early lead and gave Stamford fits defensively, leading to several unforced errors by the Knights as the Rams won by 10 to tie the match.
The Rams again jumped in front in the third set and led 17-9 before the Knights stormed back to gain a 22-21 lead. New Canaan senior co-captain Ally Leopold (12 kills, 3 blocks) evened the score with a big block, and then put down a kill to give the Rams the lead for good. After a Stamford timeout, New Canaan won the final two points to take the set.
New Canaan wins third set against Stamford #ctvb pic.twitter.com/eniqlKKUAz
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) September 27, 2019
“To be up by five or six and have them come back could be deflating, but they stayed positive,” Marino said. “They do a really nice job of playing together and communicating. That was a turning point, but that’s a good team over there so you can’t take anything for granted.”
New Canaan put the victory in the books with a 25-19 fourth-set win.
The Rams have won five of six matches with a young lineup, which features a large group of juniors, including Gravereaux, Sneddon, outside hitters Emily Johnson and Alex Gillespie, and middle Lillie Gray, along with sophomore hitter Stella Turner.
That group has added to the positive vibes.
“We refer to the juniors who were on the team last year as “The Soph Squad,” and we have a lot of fun,” Gravereaux said. “It’s great to have such a young team because we’ve all got a few years to go.”
“They’ve been working super-hard since their freshman year to get to this point,” Marino said. “We’re hoping that they keep growing and keep getting better. Our goal is to keep getting better every day. They’ve stayed true to the craft and worked hard.”
Match point in New Canaan’s first win over Stamford since 2010 #ctvb pic.twitter.com/nT3TdJ8EI8
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) September 27, 2019
The Knights, meanwhile, will go back to work for their upcoming FCIAC schedule, which doesn’t ease up.
“It’s going to be like this every match,” Smeriglio said. “There’s a lot of good teams in the FCIAC and every night you’ve got to be ready to play. New Canaan was a little more ready today, and it was their passing. They kept the ball in play a very long time and did a good job.”
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“There are definitely a lot of hard workers on this team. Everyone’s trying so much harder because we all want to do better than we did last year when it wasn’t a great season. So we’re coming off of that and trying to get better.” — New Canaan’s Annie Gravereaux
david.stewart@hearstmediact.com
Twitter:@dstewartsports
