By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – In days past, the Maloney volleyball team traveled to Bristol Eastern high school – engaging the Lancers in a huge CCC South confrontation that usually went five sets with the match in doubt until the final point was tallied. 

But this time around, after the squads split its first two sets in its most recent showdown on Wednesday night, Eastern dominated the rest of the way as the Lancers scooped up a 3-1 victory from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

With the win, Eastern improved to 8-1 overall and moved to a perfect 5-0 from home. Maloney dropped to 6-3.

The Lancers overwhelmed Maloney during the final two sets, dominating with intensity, ability, and skill as all the momentum swung to Eastern’s side of the floor in the end.

“The girls knew what they needed to do,” said Eastern coach Stefaine Reay. “They needed to collect themselves and play our game and they did a fantastic job in the last two sets.”

And Eastern’s big guns provided support for the Lancers – winners of eight straight matches.

Hannah Webber dominated from the front line with 22 loud kills and four digs while Lauren Bender had a ’double-double’ of 11 kills and 11 digs to go along with three aces.

Emily Valentine slipped in five aces, Lilli Lowe nabbed three kills, and Alyssa Adorno added three aces and six digs.

Alex Shorette had a very good evening (10 digs, four aces, six kills), Sarah Lacouture added a couple kills while floor general Abby Jones, performing extremely well from the setter position, tapped up 42 assists as Eastern won another big match.

Ten lead changes and 19 ties highlighted a busy match but all that back-and-forth play came over the first two games as the programs battled to a 14-14 stalemate to open the first set.

Eastern then went on a mini 4-0 run to snare the edge for good in the set.

With the Lancers ahead 22-20, Maloney committed a bad serve, Jones dropped in an ace to get to set point and to end the game, Webber swung down a kill that was blocked out of bounds as Eastern earned a 25-22 set one victory.

The second game saw the Lancers roll out to a 9-6 lead when serves from Webber and Shorette could not be returned.

But the Spartans caught up off Eastern errors and an ace by Meriden’s Rachel Case.

It was a 15-15 tie before Eastern’s miscues derailed the home team for the rest of the set.

Eastern closed to 21-19 late but the Spartans’ Savannah Bernabucci (12 kills) tallied a couple kills and when one final swing from Webber saw the ball bounce into in the net, Maloney earned a 25-19 win in set two to tie the match up at 1-1.

However, that would be the final highlight of the evening by the visiting aggression as Eastern zipped up to a 12-2 cushion to open the third game – ended with a clean ace by Adorno – as the Lancers were up big early.

Maloney closed the deficit to 13-8 but Eastern used a 9-0 run, started by a couple slick passes from Jones to Webber and Lacouture for loud kills and slams.

“Abby is really owning that position,” said Reay of Jones. “She’s taken a leadership role on the court. I’m really, really impressed on how she’s doing.”

And once Lowe tipped the ball over for a kill, the Lancers led by 13 and ended the third game with a 25-12 win.

In the fourth set, and a 2-1 match lead in hand, serve receive became a major issue for the Spartans and Eastern went on the attack from the service line.

Valentine sent down unreturnable serves to open the final game and with a 6-2 lead in hand, the Lancers were off and running.

Bender then sparked off three straight kills – neatly placing the ball in the backline corner where the Maloney defense was not patrolling – as the visitors trailed 10-4.

“Lauren is doing a great job this season,” said Reay of Bender. “She’s getting better plays in her swings. She did a nice job for us last season and she’s carrying that through this season.”

The Spartans were hanging around at 14-8 but the Lancers sealed the deal nine straight points, including aces by Bender and loud swings from Webber, to make it a 23-8 contest.

To end the showdown, one last Jones-to-Webber connection found paydirt, propelling the Lancers to a 25-11 set win and a 3-1 match victory.

Eastern continues its play from home this Friday as Glastonbury, fresh off a 3-0 sweep at Avon on Wednesday, travels to Bristol for a CCC Interdivisional encounter.

And unlike last year’s condensed campaign, the Lancers still have a ton of season to play – getting better and better along the way as the year unfolds.

“I love the fact that we’re literally just starting,” said Reay. “That’s basically all there is to say. There is so much we can still improve upon. So, we’ll just continue to grow and get better and better.”

Bristol Eastern Volleyball – CCC South

BRISTOL EASTERN 3, MALONEY 1

from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol

Set Scores: 25-22, 19-25, 25-12, and 25-11

Lead Changes: 10

Ties: 19

Highlights: Bristol Eastern – Hannah Webber 22 kills, 2 aces, 4 digs; Lauren Bender 11 kills, 11 digs, 3 aces; Emily Valentine 5 aces; Lilli Lowe 3 kills; Alyssa Adorno 3 aces, 6 digs; Alex Shorette 10 digs, 4 aces, 6 kills; Sarah Lacouture 2 kills; Abby Jones 42 assists, 3 digs.

Records: Bristol Eastern 8-1 overall; Maloney 6-3