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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Medfield High School varsity girls volleyball team concluded its incredible playoff run with a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to No. 3 Westboro in the Division II Central Finals on Saturday.
The No. 4 Warriors (17-6) won their way to Saturday’s sectional title game with a pair of convincing 3-0 wins over Nashoba Regional in the quarterfinals and TVL rival Westwood in the semifinals.
Coming off a dominant performance against Nashoba Regional, senior captain Jessica Sturchio continued her kill spree early on against Westwood on Wednesday, hammering eight kills in the first set to guide Medfield to a 25-15 set victory and a 1-0 lead.
In set two, Brooke Deady and Kayla McNeil each recorded three blocks at the net and Sturchio recorded double-digit kills to carry Medfield to 25-9 set victory and a commanding 2-0 overall lead with the chance to clinch the match heading into set-three.
The Warriors finished strong in the third set thanks to a dominant collective effort, winning 11 of the final 12 points to secure a 25-14 third-set victory, securing a 3-0 win to move on to Saturday’s sectional final against Westboro.
On Saturday, the Warriors found themselves in a dogfight early on with the sectional title on the line. Westboro took set-one (25-14) to jump out to a 1-0 lead, but Medfield responded by battling their way to back-to-back set victories, winning 25-20 in set-two and 25-22 in set three thanks to three late kills by Sturchio to take a 2-1 overall lead heading into set-four.
A late comeback gave set-four to Westboro at 25-22, meaning the fate of the sectional crown would come down to a fifth and final set. A pair of kills by Deady got Medfied out to a 5-0 set-five lead, but Westboro responded with an 11-0 run, concluding with a 15-8 set win and the 3-2 overall victory.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
