Catch the Wave: Abington girls volleyball program making a statement this season
ABINGTON – To quote the old line from TV's "The A-Team," you gotta love it when a plan comes together.
The plan in this case was to create a viable girls volleyball program from scratch at Abington High School. Six years later, the Green Wave finally are seeing the payoff.
Last Thursday's 3-0 win over South Shore Christian Academy pushed Abington's record to 11-4 and further bolstered its chances of getting at least one home match in the upcoming Division 4 state tournament.
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The Green Wave, which moved up from club to varsity status in 2017, have made two previous MIAA playoff appearances – in 2019 (finished 11-10) and 2021 (finished 8-11). Both of those trips ended with first-round exits, but now Abington is shaping up to be a much tougher out in the tournament.
Boosted by 10 seniors who have come up through the ranks together, the Green Wave appears to be hitting its stride.
"For the most part, this has been the same starting lineup for the past three years," senior Hannah Tirrell said. "I think we've definitely improved a lot. We're doing great. I'm very proud of us. This is the best we've ever been. I'm really excited about it."
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"It's a big step up," coach Judy Hamilton said of her team's success this fall. "These girls that we have right now, they've been starting since freshman year, all together. So we've had them now for four years. It's a big senior group. They work super hard. They're dedicated to it; they show up to every practice and fight for the team. They're doing a great job."
Hamilton, a Spanish teacher in town, started playing volleyball in third grade in Puerto Rico. Few of her players got that early a jump on the sport, but they've made up for lost time.
"I started playing volleyball in the summer of sixth grade," senior Maiya Johnson said. "I went to a bunch of different camps. When I finally got to high school, I was the happiest person alive finding out that we had a volleyball team."
"I've been playing my whole life, (starting) on the beach," Tirrell said. "We have a house on the Cape so I've been playing beach volleyball as long as I can remember. But I just started court volleyball my freshman year. I'd done a couple of camps with Coach Hamilton before when I was in middle school, but mainly I've just done it in high school. I was on varsity as a freshman. I think that experience definitely helped."
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Thursday's victory – the scores were 25-19, 25-12, 25-15 – was a big one for Abington, which improved to 4-0 this season after a loss. The Green Wave had a near-miss against East Bridgewater last Wednesday, losing 3-2 in a South Shore League matchup.
"We were ready for a win," Johnson said. "We were very ready for a win. Definitely needed a pick-me-up."
Getting back on track right away was important because Abington was No. 21 in the MIAA Division 4 power rankings that came out last Friday. The top 32 teams qualify, along with anyone below the cutoff line that finishes with a .500 or better record.
"We really wanted to focus on getting our ranking up," senior Margaret Hardy said. "Last year we were (a) 26th (seed), so we had to play a faraway game against a tough team (Arlington Catholic). The (EB loss) hurt. Everyone was disappointed because it wasn't a great match for us. We knew needed to get this one to get our confidence up."
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Abington was particularly sharp from the service line against SSCA. Hardy had a 5-0 serving run in the first game (for an 11-3 lead) and a 3-0 serving run in the second game to put the Green Wave up 7-2. Brenna O'Brien took over early in the third game, serving seven straight points for an 8-1 lead and then closing out the match with four consecutive points.
"It definitely helps a lot" to be able to rip off scoring runs like that, Tirrell said, "to know that I can count on the other servers, and they can count on me. Getting those points back-to-back feels great."
O'Brien led the team with 8 aces against SSCA, and Hardy added 6. Tirrell (6 kills), Johnson (4 kills) and Kayla Sullivan (10 assists) also starred. For the season, Tirrell leads the way with 38 kills and 30 aces. Johnson has chipped in 33 kills, and setters Sullivan (20 aces, 57 assists) and Madison Carini (18 aces, 41 assists) have piled up strong stats. Libero Madison Perry also has been key.
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"Some games it's serving" that carries us, said assistant coach Matt Cutter, who also runs the JV team. "Our game against East Bridgewater, the hitting was spot on. It depends on the day. Some days we're good at serving and we're killing it that way, which is what happened today. In other games, the hitting is on. We're just a well-rounded team."
Cutter said it's been "super rewarding" watching Abington's senior class refine their collective game during their time on varsity.
That development has boosted Abington's won-loss record, but it's also helping lay the groundwork for future success. After all, in a crowded sports landscape it's easier to recruit players to a thriving program.
"I definitely think volleyball's catching on (in town)," Tirrell said. "This year we had a ton of people trying out. Last year, too. It's definitely growing in popularity. Everyone loves to come to our games. We had a great fan section today."
A few more wins, and those fans might get to see a playoff match in their own gym. The Green Wave are definitely aiming higher than another one-and-done.
"We're ready for our tournament season," Johnson said. "We're ready to keep winning."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Abington High girls volleyball program is thriving
