MANSFIELD, Mass. – As fans started to trickle into the gym in the minutes before the scheduled start of Wednesday evening’s playoff opener in the Albertini Gym, they saw the Mansfield players standing by the bench but no one on the visitor’s side. Chelsea’s bus was caught in traffic on its way from Boston and the start of the match was delayed by nearly an hour.
Energy was high during the original warmups but the break sapped some of the intensity in the gym and, with the Chelsea players coming off a long trip on the bus, both teams struggled to find a rhythm early on.
It took a few sets, but Mansfield finally found its groove, making its height advantage count at the net and feeding off the home crowd to pull out a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-13) victory that sets up a rematch with league rival Oliver Ames in the Div. 2 Round of 32.
“I think they were ready to go early,” said Mansfield coach Tara DeGirolamo about the late start to the match. “They were doing their sixes and we had to stop them because we were afraid they’d lose their energy and then these poor kiddos on their bus for several hours. It just hurt both teams. We definitely had to shake that rust off.”
When asked about getting a third shot at OA, DeGirolamo replied, “I think they’re so excited to play OA again, since we’ve seen them twice. It gives us confidence that we’re going to a familiar site, familiar kiddos. It will definitely be a tough match. They’re a great team.”
Both teams were a little slow out of the gates, but Chelsea hitter Tatiana Sanabria Herrera was causing problems on the outside and helped the Red Devils take the early 7-4 lead. Lily Campbell had a couple of points in the middle to help Mansfield come back and freshman Gabrielle Moore had a kill to put the hosts in front 9-8.
The Red Devils came back to tie the set at 13 apiece but a serve into the net, an issue for the visitors all night, and a kill by Lilly Verheggen restored Mansfield’s advantage. Elyssa Buchanan added a kill and an ace to help the hosts lead 18-15. The lead stretched to as many as five points, but Chelsea went on a 4-0 run to get back within one.
After a service error, Lexie Scibilia was set in the middle and she smashed in a kill to put the Hornets up three. An ace from setter Keira Fitzpatrick would seal the opening set and Mansfield looked ready to take control of the match.
Momentum didn’t carry over for the hosts. Herrera continued to be the most consistent hitter in the match and she helped Chelsea open up an 11-4 lead in the second. Ella Mahoney spiked one off the block and Scibilia had a nice block for a point. Moore got another kill from the back row to help cut the lead to 13-11.
Back-to-back swings by Buchanan tied the set at 17-17 and Verheggen was able to pick the back corner with a hit to put Mansfield in front for the first time in the second, but Chelsea won seven of the next nine points to level the match. Herrera closed out the set with yet another kill.
The third set felt pivotal, like whichever team could win it would be able to see out the win and, fittingly, it was back-and-forth from the start with the largest lead for either team being three points.
Buchanan had an ace and Campbell followed with a kill to put the Hornets in front 9-7. Campbell added a nice block in the middle for a point and Buchanan found some space on a tip. Chelsea came right back, winning three straight points to take the 15-14 lead. Buchanan blasted a hit down the middle to tie it and then fired an ace just inside the back line to regain the advantage.
After a long rally, Jasmine Maradiaga Varela found the court with a bump and Herrera got points on two straight serves. With Chelsea up 20-18, freshman setter Tessa Blacquier came up with a huge dig that soared into the back corner for a point, sparking a 4-0 Mansfield run. Verheggen added a point and then finished the set with a swing off the Chelsea block to give the Hornets a chance to see out the match.
Using a hot start to the fourth set, Mansfield seemed to finally break Chelsea’s resistance. A Fitzpatrick ace, a Verheggen kill, a Fitzpatrick dig leading to a Mahoney kill, and a Scibilia bump that dropped in for a point added up to an 8-1 lead.
DeGirolamo said, “We always want them to start out strong because volleyball is such a mental game that whenever they’re positive and that energy is up, they do such a great job and it carries them.”
Credit to the Red Devils for not folding once they fell behind, but Campbell was able to stymie a run by finding a point with a push shot and a Buchanan ace made it 13-6. Scibilia started to take over in the fourth. She had back-to-back kills to extend the lead to nine and then smashed one off the block for a 20-11 lead.
Mahoney picked the back corner with a swing and Mansfield cruised to a comfortable denouement of a match that had been anything but comfortable up to that point.
“We saw a little film on them and they looked very scrappy, so our goal was to take out their setter, get them out of system, and when we could then we were successful,” DeGirolamo explained. “In the fourth set, when we got the swings going we used our height and we used that to our advantage.”
Mansfield (7-10) closed the regular season with one win its final eight matches but will hope to take momentum from the play-in round into its trip to Oliver Ames on Friday evening.