By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor
NORTH EASTON, Mass. — For a moment, it felt like the script was flipping. Oliver Ames rolled through the first two sets, then let a late lead get away in the third as Canton forced the match to stretch longer than it looked like it would just moments earlier.
And then it nearly happened again.
The Bulldogs erased an eight-point deficit in the fourth and drew level in the closing points. But this time, OA didn’t break. Canton kept answering, but back-to-back kills from Chelsea Wagner and Taylor Donohue finally closed out the fourth and sent the top-seeded Tigers to the Division 2 state semifinals with a 3-1 win (25-10, 25-15, 22-25, 27-25) over the Bulldogs.
The final point was emblematic of the match. Senior Angelina Romeiro went to the floor to dig up a Canton attack, and Donohue was forced to push it over. A free ball came back over, but the Bulldogs came up with a double block on Donohue’s second swing. On the third chance, Donohue slammed one to the floor to close it out.
“I think we got up in our feelings a little bit knowing that it was that close and all the pressure,” said Oliver Ames head coach Chelsea Cunningham. “They started to feel it towards the third set, but that just means after that we realized it’s anybody’s game. We had to take it one point at a time, reset as much as we could. I even took timeouts to calm them down because I could see it in them. You just can’t shake that feeling that it’s coming that close.
“I’m so proud of them. They fought through that pressure and learned how to persevere even when our weaknesses were being exposed constantly. We still gave it right back to them.”
Wagner went up and smashed one of her 20 kills to give the Tigers a commanding 19-11 lead in the fourth set. Canton freshman Brooke Connor (12 kills) had a perfect line shot for a kill and sophomore Michaela Singleton followed with an ace, but Wagner came through with another kill to make it 20-13 as OA was just five points from closing it out.
But a service error opened the door for the Dogs, and sophomore Brynn Connor sandwiched a pair of kills off loose passes around an ace from junior Fiona Trendell, and Brooke Connor put down another loose pass and suddenly Canton was within two at 20-18.
Sophomore Lyla McDonough (32 assists, four aces) won a battle at the net for a key point for OA, junior middle Claire Kenny (six kills, five aces, two blocks) put a kill down, and a service error put the Tigers on the brink at 23-20. But once again, Canton came back. Senior Chloe Dubuisson (18 kills) hit a roll shot into a hole in the defense and OA had back-to-back hitting errors as the set to knot the score 23-23.
Wagner got a kill, but Canton stayed alive after an OA hitting error. Wagner and Brooke Connor traded kills again to tie it at 25-25. Adjusting to the defense, Wagner threw one to the back corner to make it 26-25, and then Donohue (10 kills, 17 digs, four aces) ended it on her third swing.
“When the points are going back and forth, it gets so nerve-wracking and you just want to finish it as fast as possible,” Wagner said. “But when you have those swings where they keep getting it up, because Soley Rodriguez Martinez is an amazing player so the cross shots are hard, you have to think about where you can tip it and where you can place the ball smartly to get those points.”
The third set was mostly back-and-forth with Donohue getting some early kills for the Tigers while Dubuisson had some big swings for the Bulldogs. With the game tied at 13 apiece, Sean Raymond dropped a roll shot on the second ball and McDonough had consecutive aces. Kenny added a big kill from the middle and freshman Lyla Yurrita came through with a block to put the Tigers up 19-16.
Brooke Connor answered with a kill after a strong pass from Melanie McDonough, a long rally ended in favor of the Bulldogs, and back-to back errors from OA had Canton in front. OA got a kill from Wagner, but Connor came through again with two good swings. For the final two points, Canton senior setter Erin Bigham took over. She froze the OA defense with a perfect dump on the second touch to get within a point, and as a front row player, she went up and swung at the second ball for a kill to close it out and force a fourth.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way the kids rallied after that second set,” said Canton head coach Pat Cawley. “I mean, I think we came in confident that we could do better than we had done against them during the regular season. We’re a lot better team than we were, but the nerves showed for us in the first two sets. And it would have been easy just to lie down and get out of here. But they fought tooth and nail the whole time in the third and fourth set. We were right there with them in that fourth set and it could have gone either way. And then you go into five and you never know. But I’m really proud of them. They really worked hard out there.
“[Oliver Ames] is an amazing team and their hitters hit the ball hard. All of the kudos to them. They’re a great team. The same kids pretty much went to the finals last year and they got another year [next year]. But I’m really proud of my kids who, everybody except for Soley and Erin, are pretty new at what they were doing. And I think that’s why we had such a slow start. I think the nerves set in and the confidence wasn’t there. But I really couldn’t be prouder and that’s all I can say to them. It hurts in the moment, but at least we know that we went home swinging.”
Rodriguez Martinez anchored Canton’s defensive effort with another stellar performance in the back row with 27 digs to go along with three kills. Bigham — one of the best players in Canton history, and arguably the more versatile setter the Hockomock League has seen in two decades — closed out her career with 30 assists, 17 digs, and four kills.
“I can’t say enough about Erin…a four-year starter, she has barely come off the court in four years,” Cawley said. “A six position player, she’s a leader, she’s calm. I think that’s one of her biggest attributes is her calmness on the court. She tries to keep those around her calm.
Every skill set she’s very good at. She’s not only a great setter, she’s a good blocker, she’s an excellent defensive player. She has some offense to her game. She’s a very good server. I’ve never had a setter younger than a junior pretty much. I’ve never had a setter that is so strong in all skill sets and such a hard worker. Kids come and they go, but we’re going to feel the sting of Erin leaving for sure.”
OA set the tone early in the match, winning seven of the first nine points. Canton clawed its way into it, including a perfectly placed tip from Brynn Connor, to pull within 11-7. But the Tigers took control from there — Kenny denied the Dogs twice with blocks, Donohue and Wagner had back-to-back kills, and then Kenny came back with two more blocks and a kill to close out the first set, 25-10.
The second set played out similarly. The Tigers used a 6-0 run early, highlighted by a kill from Yurrita and two aces from Kenny, to create some separation. Canton got back into it with some key plays from Brooke Connor and another timely play from Bigham as the Bulldogs pulled within 15-11. But it was another 6-0 run from OA — a block and kill from Kenny after strong defense from libero Molly Milliken, an ace from Donohue, and a block from Romeiro — that sent the Tigers to a 25-15 win in the second set.
“I said it’s a feat in itself to play the same team three times,” Cunningham said. “We know the opponent, we know what to expect, but it doesn’t matter. [Canton] is still gonna try their best, they’re still gonna give their best game to us. And having to come here again for them, that must have been ten times as hard. So I give them all the credit to show up and play because they really did.”
“I said to my team, this is it guys, this is your last home game. How do you want to remember it? And then they took over from there.”
Oliver Ames (23-0) will face a familiar foe in the Division 2 state semifinals in King Philip (16-7). The date, time, and location has yet to be announced.
