The Brunswick/Mt. Ararat girls volleyball team gathers around head coach Kaili Phillips prior to taking on Marshwood on Friday at Brunswick High School. The Dragons fell to 1-2 with a 3-2 loss. (Bob Conn / The Times Record)
BRUNSWICK — Over the young life of the Brunswick/Mt. Ararat girls volleyball program, the Dragons have worked hard on the court to grow confidence while finding success.
On Friday, Brunswick/Mt. Ararat battled Marshwood for five sets and nearly two hours, with both high school squads putting together runs and solid play.
In the end, it was the visiting Hawks that came away with the win, pulling out a 24-26, 25-13, 17-25, 25-14, 16-14, five-set victory to improve to 2-0 while sending the Dragons to their second straight defeat and 1-2 mark ahead of Tuesday’s road match at Windham (6 p.m.).
In a match that seemed like a win for the hosts, Marshwood found that one last spurt as Caroline Hammond nailed her 13th kill to finally put away the Dragons.
Throughout the match, Brunswick/Mt. Ararat faced deficits, rallying from 7-3 down in the first set to win. Trailing 7-1 to open the fourth set, the Dragons rallied to take an 11-10 lead before a Marshwood run sent the match to the fifth and deciding set. In the final set, again Brunswick/Mt. Ararat had to rally, this time from 12-8 down before claiming a late 14-13 advantage.
“In years past, when we got down by that much it might have felt over and defeated,” said Brunswick/Mt. Ararat coach Kaili Phillips. “We have a couple good kids who go on some good serving runs. It is a big improvement.”
Senior Lauren Whitlock led the charge for the Dragons, dishing out a game-high 24 assists, with kills coming from Kathleen Trapp (nine), Chloe Coombs (seven), Kassidy Dixon (four) and Jaden Lohr (four).
“It was a great match, and I thought we did a good job being excited through the whole match,” said Whitlock. “We came back several times tonight. We were not scared to lose. This match was important, and it showed that we can really work together. We are still a young program, so getting us to gell tonight was a big deal.”
Early runs
Marshwood came out strong behind the serving of Margaret Kovalcin, who ran off four straight points for a 7-3 Hawks lead in the opening set. Down 14-11, three kills from Trapp led the Dragons back. Tied at 24, Trapp served the final two points for a 26-24 Brunswick/Mt. Ararat win.
The second set was all Hawks, who jumped out to a 16-6 lead and cruised to even the match at a set apiece.
The key run in the third set came with Brunswick leading 10-9. Dixon served up a pair of aces for a 13-9 lead, and after Marshwood tied the set at 13, Coombs served four straight times, with Whitlock setting up Trapp for a pair of kills as the Dragons claimed a 2-1 lead.
Once again Marshwood used a pair of long runs to claim a set. Tied at 12, the Hawks scored the next six points for an 18-12 lead. Late in the fourth set, senior Erin Gray served out the final six points to close out the 25-14 win.
“We finally worked together as a team and got our heads going, with our kills on point tonight and the serving getting better as the match moved on,” said Gray, who led her team with 15 kills, six aces and three digs. “This was fun and there is a lot of adrenalin running through me right now. It was an even match.”
In the deciding set, Marshwood seemed on its way to an easy win, leading 12-8. However, Brunswick/Mt. Ararat scored four straight points on Lohr’s serve to tie things. An ace by Dixon put the Dragons ahead 14-13, but Gray had one more serving run left as the Hawks scored the final three points.
“A few of them had their best game of the year and received a confidence boost,” said Phillips. “But we were looking for a win, so this was not exactly what we were looking for.”
Kovalcin led Marshwood with five assists, while Maddie Field chipped in five kills. Reid Johnson dished out four assists.
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