Spellman V-Ball Evens Cross Town Rivalry

NOTE: Originally posted Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
The Brockton Post
BROCKTON--Cardinal Spellman's girls volleyball team had their revenge against Brockton Monday shutting out their cross-town rivals 3-0 in a powerful performance team members hope will be enough momentum to drive toward a playoff berth and an eventual championship.
"This was a big game for us," said co-Captain Shaylyn Roach, a Spellman senior from Weymouth. "Brockton's a big school and they beat us last week. We just came out and played our game," she said.
Last Wednesday the Boxers beat the Cardinals 3-1 at Brockton High in matches that were hotly contested and decided only by a few points.
Less than a week later and on their home gym, the Cardinals shutdown Brockton's heavy hitters and dominated at the net to take three straight games and improving the team's record to 7-5.
"After last week's loss we talked about stepping up to the challenge and not taking the foot off the gas," said Cardinals coach Ali Gerrish. "All my starters played really well. It was really a team effort," Gerrish said.
On the other side of the court, Boxers coach Jack Olson was completely unhappy with his team's performance.
"They outplayed us," Olson said. "We just waited for them to make a mistake and they never did," he said.
Both coaches said this year is the first year in many that Spellman and Brockton have met on the volleyball court and both sides are enjoying the renewed rivalry.
During yesterday's match while not many spectators watched those who were there made their presence known, especially Whitman's Kelly Ahlstedt, who teammate Molly Anderson gave "a shout out" to for Ahlstedt's steady shout outs and chants throughout the match that gave the non-league game the feel and sound of a playoff match.
The defeat drops the Boxers below .500 to 4-5 and is the team's second loss in as many games after losing Friday's match against undefeated New Bedford.
Brockton faces another tough opponent Friday at Bridgewater-Raynham.
With the win, Spellman looks forward to traveling to Aquinas High School Wednesday and while Coach Gerrish is taking games one at a time, especially against league powerhouses like Bishop Fenwick and Bishop Stang some of the volleyball team's supporters are looking further into the future.
"They're going to win the championship," shouted Meredith McManus, now assistant coach for girls soccer who last year won a soccer championship as a senior. "We got one, now they're going to get one," she said.