LAWRENCE – The Central Catholic volleyballers have developed this innate toughness when things get tight on the floor.
They find it and rally around each other. And if that fails, they find Julie Hall.
That airtight formula for success clicked again for the sixth-seeded Raiders on Saturday night as they dispatched No. 14 Wellesley, 3-0, in the MIAA Division 1 state quarterfinals.
Central, now 20-3, moves on to the state semis where the Raiders will tangle with No. 2 Newton North (21-2), the three-time defending D-1 state champ.
“We’ve been working on (handling the pressure) for a long time, having a next-ball mentality. Volleyball moves way too fast to dwell on the last play,” said Central coach Alana McNeil.
“The top half of Division 1 was definitely evenly matched. All the teams now are pretty equal. I’m happy the girls showed up. They played hard. They worked hard. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
A Central program that went 3-15 in 2022 and hadn’t won a postseason match since 2021 now finds itself two wins from a state title.
“It feels really good. They’ve been working extremely hard. It was a rocky couple years there for a while,” said McNeil. “I’m very happy for the seniors. They’ve been plugging away. They’ve been trying to build the culture that we have right now. This junior class came in, and they’ve been working extremely hard as well. It’s really nice to see all that hard work pay off.”
The Raiders dominated the opening set, breaking to an early 8-1 lead and coasting home at 25-21.
The second and third sets, though, were sizzling slugfests – each with a late turning point where Central shined.
Wellesley dictated in the second, breaking to a 9-3 lead.
Sydney Faria helped serve Central back in it, within a point at 11-10.
From there, it was punch-counterpunch. The junior Hall, who led everyone with 18 kills, just kept finding the floor, using an arsenal that included power and finesse.
At 15-15, she served an ace, then came up with one of the most sensational saves you’ll ever see on a point that resulted in Kate Galvin’s winning block-rejection.
Central would not trail again.
At 21-20, Hall delivered. At 22-21, it was Faria from the back row.
And finally at 24-21, Hall rocketed one off the Wellesley block to put Central up 2-0.
Wellesley, which stunned No. 3 Shrewsbury in the round of 16, showed plenty of guts. The visitors, behind Emma Read at the net, actually led the third briefly at 20-19, before Hall tied it.
At 21-21, enough was enough. Hall scored from the back and then drilled another, making it 23-21.
Faria’s third ace of the night put Central on the cusp, and Hall slammed the door, ending Wellesley’s night and season.
“I have to say in addition to (Hall) being such an offensive threat, she also puts her teammates in a position to succeed, too, whether it’s her pass or her set,” said McNeil. “She’s always looking for whatever she can do to put us in position to win, whether it’s her getting the point or one of her teammates. She hustles, she moves.”
Faria finished with 13 kills and 20 digs, while Bella Sierpina had a pair of blocks. Madison Blanchet passed out 37 assists.