Dartmouth volleyball reaches state semifinals for the first time in school history

DARTMOUTH — The only thing missing was the song "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters blaring over the loudspeakers at the Carlin Lynch Activity Center.

A jubilant group of Dartmouth girls volleyball players were in a celebratory mood on Friday after notching a 3-0 win over Masconomet to reach the Final Four in the MIAA Div. 2 State Playoffs for the first time in school history.

"This is amazing," said Brooke Davis, a 5-foot-5 junior hitter who's in her second season as a starter for No. 4 Dartmouth. "We're like a family. We have a lot of faith in each other. We all believed that we could get here and we made it happen."

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Davis is never the biggest player on the court, but she plays big and does all the little things that help the team win. Especially in tight situations.

"Brooke is just so consistent. She's a real team player who gets the job done all over the court," Dartmouth head coach Rachel Lassey said. "She helps us at the net, the service line, and on defense. She keeps a lot of balls alive and she's super scrappy."

Dartmouth has been powered all season by senior outside hitter Ava Crane, a two-time Standard-Times Super Team pick, who was 25 for 27 at the net with 10 kills and 17 digs. Davis finished with six kills and eight digs, and junior middle hitter Adeline Ablett added 10 kills.

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"It's been a great season and we've really been meshing the last couple of matches," Ablett said. "We have strong leaders and we've pulled together all season. We're playing some of our best volleyball when it matters the most and we want to keep it going."

Dartmouth got off to strong starts in all three sets. They cooled off a bit in the middle stretches, but were able to regroup and finish strong against a No. 12 Masconomet team that never stopped battling and fought back in all three sets to make things interesting.

"We were ready to go and we got out of the gate quickly," Lassey said. "(Masconomet) hung tough and kept plugging away. They put some pressure on us, but we responded in a positive way and made some big plays when we had to."

A key to the victory was the defense that Dartmouth played from start to finish in the back row.

"Our scrappiness on defense has been amazing," Lassey said. "The hitters and blockers get all the headlines, but you have to play good defense in tight spots to win tough matches and we've been doing that all season. Our defense has been a nice complement to our offense. We're putting the ball down on offense and our defense is helping us keep the ball in play and give us a chance to win points."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior middle hitter Haley Jenkins served eight straight points to open the first set, where Dartmouth stormed to a 10-1 advantage. Masconomet rallied to pull to within 15-14, but Crane delivered a big kill to give her team some breathing room at 16-14 and they went on to win nine of the next 12 points to take a 1-0 lead.

Dartmouth stayed hot in the second set. They took the lead for good at 3-2 and they stretched their advantage to double digits (20-10) before Masconomet fought back to cut the deficit to 22-17. Crane came through with another big kill to make it 23-17 and she killed off a pair of blockers on set point to give Dartmouth a 2-0 lead in the match.

Dartmouth hit on all cylinders on the way to building a 10-4 advantage in the third set, but Masconomet refused to go down without a fight and they battled back to tie the score at 14-14. A service ace by Jenkins and a double block by junior libero/defensive specialist Olivia Arruda and Ablett gave Dartmouth a 18-14 lead. A service ace by Jasparro and a kill by Davis then pushed Dartmouth in front by a score of 21-15. A mini rally by Masconomet made it 24-19, but Crane shut the door for good with another clutch kill that ended the match.

WHAT IT MEANS: The win was the fifth straight for Dartmouth, which improved to 20-3 and will take on No. 1 Westborough (19-0) on Tuesday at a time and neutral site still to be announced. The Rangers, who dealt Dartmouth a 3-0 loss in their fourth match of the regular season on Sept. 16, advanced with a 3-0 Elite Eight win over No. 9 North Quincy, which wrapped up a 21-2 season. ... Masconomet, which came in with a three-match winning streak, finished 17-6.

MASCONOMET STATS: Freshman outside hitter Cate Wettstone finished with a team-high nine kills. ... Senior setter Vanessa Latam notched 15 assists and made two blocks at the net. ... Senior libero Sydney Draper had 10 digs.

DARTMOUTH STATS: Jenkins helped Dartmouth all over the court with 15 service points, four service aces, and five kills. ... Senior middle hitter Erynn Jasparro was 14 for 14 at the net with four kills.

MASCONOMET COACH MIKE SCAMMON: "It wasn't our best passing day and that threw us off on offense. Dartmouth served the ball well and they played good team defense."

NOTES: Dartmouth had had only six matches go beyond three sets. They put together a stretch of eight straight three-set wins in the regular season and have won all three of their playoff matches by 3-0 margins. ...  In addition to Westborough, the only other teams to beat Dartmouth this season are Case (3-2 on Sept. 28) and Duxbury (3-1 on Oct. 24). ... Masconomet won 13 matches by 3-0 scores this season, including their playoff opener against No. 21 Milford (8-11). ... Masconomet is based in Boxford and serves the students in that community as well as Middleton and Topsfield.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth Volleyball beats Masconomet in the Div. 2 Elite 8