Bobby Martinez – Sports Writer
NEW HAVEN — On a night where three Owls seniors Lauren McVey, Sarah Beres, and Jade Black would play their last home game ever at Pelz Gymnasium, the Owls went up against Franklin Pierce University who had a record of 14-7 and 9-5 in the conference.
It was a back and forth first set between both teams but Franklin Pierce got off to a quick 3-0 lead. Senior Beres and McVey helped the Owls tie the game at three following a kill and shot that bounced off Franklin Pierce’s Sydni Schulz, tying the game.
Both teams exchanged points midway into the set when Franklin Pierce went on a 7-0 run giving them the lead 18-11. Jade Black sparked a comeback for the Owls cutting the deficit to one, 22-21. But Franklin Pierce was much sharper as a team on this set and closed out with a win in the first game 25-22.
Heading into game two, head coach Lisa Barbaro said during the timeouts she wanted to make changes because Franklin Pierce’s game plan was forcing the Owls to play differently.
“It was more of making adjustments because Franklin Pierce did a great job executing and attacking and trying to take our center out of the offense.,” said Barbaro, “I thought they did a great job mixing and hitting spots.”
Franklin Pierce got off to a 1-0 start after Owls Sarah Beres’ attempted spike was blocked by Franklin Pierce. The Owls managed to score three straight points highlighted by a McVey kill giving the Owls a 3-1 lead. Franklin Pierce retaliated with four straight points after a Natasha Ray kill gave them a 5-3 lead.
Owls freshman Faith Ford sparked an Owls run with a kill giving the Owls an 8-6 lead. With numerous points scored for both teams, Franklin Pierce managed to take a 19-15 lead. Black once again sparked the Owls to fight back and take a 21-22 lead which led to a win set 25-23.
With the game tied at one apiece, McVey said Franklin Pierce on offense, and that her team could’ve done better in turning some team errors into points.
“We could’ve defended them a little better,” said McVey. “Franklin Pierce did a good job hitting our sharp angle shots and if we moved around out defense a little bit, that would’ve worked and we would’ve picked up some points.”
Franklin Pierce kicked off set three with the first lead until McVey secured a kill for the Owls tying the game at one apiece. Both Black and Beres blocked a shot by Franklin Pierce’s Natasha Ray which gave the Owls their first lead of the third set 2-1.
Owls went on a run later in the set which gave them their biggest lead of the set, 16-12. Franklin Pierce would go on a 5-0 run capturing the lead 17-16. Later on in the set with the score deadlocked at 24, Ray secured a kill for Franklin Pierce giving them a 25-24 lead which led to a set win 26-24.
The Owls would lose the fourth set 25-20 giving them their 13th loss of the season. Barabaro said despite the loss she is proud the way her team fought throughout the game.
“For us sometimes we fell a little bit late making the adjustments early.,” said Barbaro, “Then it will be like three or four points before we would make that adjustment and I think it kind of hurt us tonight.”
Throughout the game when the Owls were trailing, they managed to fight back and put themselves in a position to win. McVey said her team communication was important for them to make a comeback.
“We discussed who we were going to block,” said McVey. “We were also watching out for our center dumps and also watching out for the outside which were their main hitters.”
As an Owl, McVey has managed to calculate over 1,000 kills. McVey said tonight’s game was an emotional game for her but she is proud to have played with this year’s group of girls in her final year.
“It’s sad,” said McVey, “but I don’t think it’s going to hit me until some time next week but it was fun and I’m glad it got to be with these girls.”
