By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – After a grueling week of four matches in a matter of six days – leading to the 2021 Central Connecticut Conference Girls Volleyball Tournament Championship – the squad from Bristol Eastern had little time to savor the moment because almost immediately, the first round of the Class L tourney was at hand.

And in first round action on Monday, the tenth ranked Lancers swept pesky No. 23 Torrington behind set scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 25-13 to advance to second round play in a match contested at the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium on the campus of Bristol Eastern.

Eastern (19-5) made early mistakes in the fray but the home team did a credible job coming from behind in the first two sets – turning deficits into eventual victories.

“We just came off a long week of volleyball,” said Eastern coach Stefanie Reay. “They only had one day to rest and recover. I told them to give themselves some grace basically. Tomorrow is a new day.” 

And once again, the entire team contributed over the winning effort in advancing to the second round.

Hannah Webber collected her 500th kill that evening while dropping 22 that night to lead the Lancers.

Lauren Bender added a critical six kills and six digs while boosting in four big aces while Alex Shorette bumped up nine digs, two aces and slipped in two kills.

On the service line, Alyssa Adorno tallied seven aces, Sarah Lacouture bumped up eight digs and there was setter Abby Jones again, dishing up 28 assists while adding seven digs over a stellar defensive effort.

Lilli Lowe blocked a shot, Emily Valentine flipped in an ace, Adrianna Reay tallied two kills and two digs while Andrea Martir Perez provided support off the bench as well. 

Marissa Burger led Torrington (10-11) with five kills and seven digs while Vidhi Patel added four kills and rejected two shots.

The Raiders pushed the Lancers at times, dropping in a kill or two along the way, while Eastern’s miscues helped keep things close in the first two games.

In fact, all six lead changes and 10 ties in the match came over the first two sets of play.

But in that third and final game, Eastern led from wire to wire – playing a brand of ball that was reminiscent of CCC competition the previous week.

“Especially in the third set, we recovered and started playing more our game: the calm, relaxed [and] purposeful” way said Reay. “When we made one mistake, we came back and fixed it with another big kill or another ace.” 

Eastern rolled out to a 5-1 lead in set one but errors caught up with the home squad and off a 10-3 burst, Torrington roped up an 11-8 edge.

Reay then assisted on a Bender kill and later tapped over a ball that the Raiders could not handle – part of a 7-2 Lancers’ run – as the Kingstreeters led 15-13.

But that tally wouldn’t hold as miscues continued to haunt Eastern and late in the set, Torrington held a 21-18 push.

The Lancers ended up scoring seven of the final eight points in the game as Webber threw down a powerful kill and Bender dropped in ace to get to set point.

Webber then stuffed one more ball over the net as the Lancers scooped up a 25-22 win to seize the first set.

Serve-receive was an immediate issue for the Raiders in the second game as Eastern strode out to a 6-3 edge behind some slick serving by Bender.

But Torrington weathered the storm and off the power of a 6-0 run, the visitors went ahead, 13-11.

Eventually, Webber caught fire and off some powerful swings, Eastern grabbed a 20-16 lead – about to close the game out.

Torrington got as close as two points the rest of the way but to close out the set, Shorette sent a ball over that was never returned as Eastern won, 25-21, and held a two games-to-none match edge.

The Raiders did a quality job to that point of the contest but trailing 2-0, winning three straight sets on the road against the Lancers was going to be problematic – at best.

And set three started off on the wrong foot for Torrington as aces from Adorno, plus a neat Lowe block and stuff of Sydney Azeez, helped Eastern establish a 7-0 cushion right off the bat.

Valentine then added an assist and a sweet ace to push the Raiders’ deficit to 12-3.

Shorette then unleashed a couple of serves that would not be returned as the Lancers scooped up a 17-7 lead.

Torrington trailed by 13 late and did not have any answers for Webber or the Eastern offense.

One final bad serve ended the event as the Lancers won the set, 25-13, sweeping the match in the process by a 3-0 final.

By the completion of play that evening around the state, it was win and stay home for the Lancers.

No. 26 Windsor pulled off the only upset of the first round, sinking No. 7 New London by scores of 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, and 25-19.

That meant Eastern won’t have to pony up any gas money and will instead play another match from home this Thursday at 6 p.m.

Until then, the Eastern will rest up and get ready for a second round challenge against the Warriors (10-10) in what has turned into a CCC showdown.

“We’re working really hard to keep them hydrated, make sure they’re eating well, keeping all of the things that go into staying healthy through the season and especially the postseason,” said Reay. “But there’s still a lot of recovery that needs to be done after that much volleyball.” 

CIAC Class L Volleyball Tournament – First Round Showdown

No. 10 BRISTOL EASTERN 3, No. 23 TORRINGTON 0

from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol

Set Scores: 25-22, 25-21, and 25-13

Match lead changes: 6

Match ties: 10

Highlights: Torrington – Marissa Burger 5 kills, 7 digs; Vidhi Patel 4 kills, 2 blocks; Bristol Eastern – Hannah Webber 22 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs; Lauren Bender 6 kills, 6 digs, 4 aces; Alex Shorette 9 digs, 2 aces, 2 kills; Alyssa Adorno 7 aces, 1 dig; Sarah Lacouture 8 digs; Abby Jones 28 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace; Lilli Lowe 1 block, 1 dig; Emily Valentine 1 ace; Adrianna Reay 2 kills, 2 digs. 

Records: Bristol Eastern 19-5 overall; Torrington 10-11