Schwarz sisters lift Londonderry into Class L volleyball championship game

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November 5, 2009

By Dave Dyer

DERRY, N.H. — The motivating battle lines are clear for Saturday's Class L girls volleyball championship match at Pinkerton Academy.

Defending champion and No. 1 seed Spaulding (19-1), whose only regular-season loss was to Londonderry, has the revenge factor, while the No. 2 Lancers (18-2) can bank on confidence.

And, in the aftermath of yesterday's semifinals, both teams will enter the 5 p.m. matchup with plenty of momentum.

Londonderry, behind the Schwarz twins, swept Bishop Guertin 25-19, 25-17, 25-16, to avenge one of its regular-season setbacks, while Spaulding rallied to upend stubborn Salem in a five-game war. Trailing 2-1 in games, Spaulding took the fourth game 25-18 and rolled in the finale, 15-4.

In the opener, Londonderry took control early in each game and never let up, thanks largely to the 1-2 punch of juniors Megan and Katie Schwarz.

Megan had four kills in a 6-1 run that helped the Lancers pull away and Katie had five straight service points. For the entire match, Megan led in kills with 15, which was three more than Katie, who had 10 service points.

"They're like Ying and Yang," said Londonderry coach Peter Willis. "If one has a better game at the net, the other is better serving."

"We switch off," said Katie. "It just depends on who's having a better game at the net, and it doesn't matter to us who does better as long as we win."

Also effective at the net was another junior, Shay Collins, who led the Lancers with a season-high six aces among 16 service points. She served seven straight points to open the second game.

Londonderry will now try to duplicate its regular-season defeat of Spaulding and conclude its season on top, which few people predicted in the preseason.

"I knew we'd do pretty well because we had a good nucleus, but you can't predict this," said Willis. "Amy Johnson has taken tremendous strides as our setter, and what can you say about Katie and Megan? There are no two like them."

Salem can't hold on

Salem got out to a strong start in its first game, winning 25-21, and survived a 26-24 third game, but Spaulding's power game and several scoring spurts ultimately seemed to wear down the Blue Devils.

In the second game, a 25-16 Spaulding win, the Red Raiders had two six-point runs and two five-point runs. The lapses continued in a 25-18 Spaulding win in the fourth game and the clinching fifth game was no contest as Spaulding romped, 15-4.

"We played well, but we couldn't sustain it," said Salem coach Dan Young. "We didn't pass well and they pounced on our mistakes. Plus, we gave them too many opportunities and they had a lot more power tonight."

Courtney Wright led Salem with 13 kills and 19 digs while junior Melissa Ouellet had seven kills and eight blocks. Sarah Scott had 29 assists.

For Spaulding, which hits the ball quite hard, seniors Kim Roy and 6-footer Leah Thomas led the team in kills and total points.

Londonderry 3, Bishop Guertin 0

Class L semifinals

Kills: L —Megan Schwarz 15, Katie Schwarz 12

Assists: L — Amy Johnson 29

Service points (aces): Shay Collins 16 (6), K.Schwarz 10, Julie Wojewoda 8

Bishop Guertin (16-4):19âÇ17âÇ16 — 0

Londonderry (18-2):25âÇ25âÇ25 — 3

Spaulding 3, Salem 2

Class L semifinals

Kills: S — Courtney Wright 13, Melissa Ouellet 7, Erica Begin 7