By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Every serve, spike, and cheer carried extra weight Wednesday October 1, 2025, as the Walpole girls’ volleyball team turned the Elm Street School court into a battleground not only for victory against the Norwood Mustangs, but for the fight against breast cancer.
It was Volley for a Cure day where pink was the color of the day. All proceeds from concessions and the 50/50 raffle were donated to breast cancer research. Pink never looked so powerful: from socks to T-shirts, the color took over the gym as fans and players alike rallied behind a volleyball game with heart.
Walpole was in the second day of back-to-back matches. Walpole played defending D1 state champion and current #2 Newton North the previous day. The Bay State Conference has the top three teams in eastern Massachusetts. Throw in Natick and Wellesley and the BSC has five teams in the top 20.
Walpole’s roster of 14 athletes was 2-8 on the season coming into the contest with Norwood having bested Division 1 schools Weymouth and Framingham. They are 1-4 in league play.
Norwood was 4-5 on the season. A former member of the Bay State Conference, the Mustangs now play in the Tri-Valley League.
Zachary Okolowitcz is the Walpole head coach. Mr. O is entering his third season as the Walpole girls’ head coach. He’s also a math teacher at Walpole High and head coach of the boys’ volleyball team in the spring.
The Timberwolves’ senior captains are Brooke Harrington, Kate Jordan and Dori Rizzo. Harrington has been a starting libero for the team for the past two seasons.
The very competitive first set was even throughout highlighted by some outstanding defense by Keira Brennan. Walpole pulled away at the end winning, 25-19. The second set was a nail-biter. It was tied at 8 when the Timberwolves fell behind 15-11. They battled back to tie it at 21 before closing it out, 25-23 with Harrington serving the winning point. But the Mustangs were not done, They captured the third set in another close battle, 25-23.
However, this day belonged to the Timberwolves. The fourth set was tied at 11 when Walpole put the pedal to the metal and closed out the set, 25-13, and the match, 3-1.
When the final point dropped, the scoreboard told one story, but the evening told another: one of a community united in purpose, proving that the biggest win wasn’t on the court, but in the fight against breast cancer.
This should be the last season the team plays at the Elm Street School. The plan is to utilize the newly constructed field house at Walpole High School in the future.
Walpole continues its slate of regular season contests during October. They continue to strive for the state playoffs against sterling competition.
