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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Following a tough 0-3 start to the 2016 season, the Walpole High girls volleyball team has found their groove and gone on a winning run of eight consecutive games (seven on the road) to improve their record to 8-3 on the year.
The Rebels defeated Bay State Conference rival Natick 3-0 on September 28 in a hard-fought match, followed by dominant performances against Wellesley (3-0 win), Weymouth (3-0 win), and Framingham (3-1 win).
Abby Hile (15) and Abigal Rae (25) guard the net and defend a Wellesley kill attempt. Photos by Tim Hoffman
While the 3-0 score may not indicate it, the victory over Natick may have been the most impressive and hard-fought victory the Rebels have had all season long, as Walpole was forced to come back in multiple sets from several points behind. The entire winning streak as a whole is certainly impressive, but Walpole’s resilience and ability to rebound as a team against Natick certainly deserves a lot of recognition as it has allowed them to continue their winning run.
Against Natick, the Rebels were led on the offensive side by the tandem of senior Abby Hile (13 kills), sophomore Sawyer King (10 kills, 28 SA), and sophomore Abby Rae (10 kills) while senior Andrea Traietti (30 digs) and sophomore McKenzie Rae (34 assists, 126 BHA) led the Rebels defensively.
On Thursday, Walpole had their strongest start of the season in their victory over Wellesley. The Rebels took control early and created a 10-point lead (20-10). Wellesley began to fight back and Walpole lost some of their momentum, allowing the Raiders to close the gap to 24-23. A kill by McKenzie Rae, however, finished the set in Walpole’s favor and the Rebels were able to escape with the 1-0 lead.
The Rebels began the second set strong and again found themselves in the lead. Even after the Raiders were able to knot the set at seven, Walpole was able to start separating themselves from Wellesley. The Rebels applied pressure and worked on earning their points with kills by Abby Rae, Morgan O’Brien, McKenzie Rae and Sawyer King, and block kills coming from Morgan O’Brien and Abby Hile. The second set concluded with a 25-15 victory for Walpole.
The third set was similar to the second as Walpole maintained the lead throughout. The Rebels emphasized a strong ability to block at the net and dig, taking away many point opportunities for Wellesley.
Of the last seven points of the Wellesley match, three were earned by Abby Hile (block kill, kill, ace) and three were earned by Morgan O’Brien (block kill, two kills).
After the Wellesley match, the Rebels handled Weymouth with ease, again failing to drop a set before battling to a hard fought victory over Framingham.
On Wednesday night, however, the winning run for the Rebels came to an end with a tough 3-0 loss on the road to a strong King Phillip team that is currently 12-2 on the season and dominating play in the Hockomock League. While the outcome may not have been in favor of the Rebels, there was nothing to be ashamed of, as strong defensive efforts by Kayla Frost and Morgan O’Brien allowed Walpole to rebound from a slow start (dropping the first set 25-12) to make KP earn every point for the rest of the match, with two close battles in the final two sets (25-21 and 25-23).
At the time of printing, the Rebels (8-4, 5-2) will look to rebound and get back to their winning ways against Bishop Feehan and Dedham as the final push for the postseason inches closer.
