'The girls took ownership': Case volleyball captures 18th straight win to end the year

SOMERSET — Joseph Case senior volleyball captain Olivia Silva said her team had to do some soul searching after dropping three straight sets to Dartmouth nearly two months ago.

"We knew we had to work even harder to turn this around," she said.

Fast forward to Wednesday night against league opponent Somerset Berkley, the Cardinals won their 18th consecutive match to conclude the regular season with a bang.

"They have worked hard," said Case head coach Brendan Kelly after a 3-0 victory over the Raiders. "It's a new season now. But the [girls] took ownership a month and a half ago. The focus has been high since then."

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Silva, who earlier notched her 1,000th career assist, was a big part of the Cardinals' game plan in this one. She finished with a game-high 34 assists, including setting up junior outside hitter Hannah Storm for loud kill shots.

"I love my setter," smiled Storm, who finished with a game-high 19 kill shots. "Oliva [Silva] is the glue to the team. Nothing can happen without her. I am going to be sad when she leaves."

In the 18 games following the loss to Dartmouth, Case lost just four sets. They even avenged the earlier loss to Dartmouth with a 3-2 win at home.

"This is a veteran group," Kelly said. "They work hard, they listen, and they're very close off the court. It's a fun atmosphere."

Despite a strong showing from SBR, who punched their postseason ticket on Monday, the Cardinals (19-1) won in straight sets, 25-17, 25-14, and 25-18.

"I think tonight's match was a good preparation for us next week," said Raiders head coach Emily Travis, whose team dropped to 10-9. "They're not in our division, but we are going to play teams that are good, if not better. We had a couple of easy games before this, so this one is a good test before Senior Night tomorrow.

"We did a lot of great things, and we made a little list of things to work on next week. But our overall game plan was to shut down a couple of their hitters, which we did at times. So that was good to see."

Storm said after the loss to Dartmouth, they realized that they were going to be a special team.

"We had to come together and bond," she said. "We respect our coach. His showing that he cares and he believes that we can be a good team, really puts us together and makes us realize what we can accomplish when we put our minds together."

How it happened

Case jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but SBR staged a comeback midway to take a brief lead. However, the Cardinals' smooth passing and placement of the return enabled the visitors to pull out the win.

"We did a nice job, and this was one of the better games we've had moving the ball around the floor," Kelly said. "I thought we mixed in, hitting the ball hard and with off-speed stuff. [We] were using the whole court. That's what we're looking to do."

In the second set, Case once again jumped in front early. But thanks to the terrific defense of Kori Tickle, the Raiders answered back. Tickle fended off a loud kill shot by Cardinals big hitter Jamie Moniz (eight kills), which got the crowd back in the game. She finished with a career-best 10 digs.

"I brought Kori up from JV after the second game," Travis said. "I love her, and she is such a great kid."Another player who stepped up for Travis was junior Abigail Vieira, who finished with a team-high eight kill shots and 12 digs.

Silva closed the match with her serving and defense.

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The third set looked to be a runaway for Case, but the Raiders fought back to close the gap to 24-18. Storm iced the match with a soft toss over the net for the win for the Cardinals.

Ava Silva had nine kills and four blocks in the win. Loagan Brown contributed eight digs, and teammate Sophia Conos finished with seven digs. Alessandra Ferrera ended with two kills and three blocks for SBR.

The Raiders conclude the regular season with a match against Bishop Connolly.

Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Chezsports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Volleyball: Joseph Case ends the regular season with 18 straight wins