English volleyball shows resilience

LYNN – It?s certainly no volleyball coach?s dream to play from behind all match long, but Lynn English coach Laurie Wentzell made an exception following her squad?s contest with Marblehead on Thursday evening at Cavanagh Field House.The Bulldogs fell behind in all three sets before staging rallies in each, leading to a 3-0 sweep over the Magicians. English won by scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19, improving to 4-1 on the season.?We, or any team for that matter, usually wouldn?t be able to come back over and over again like we did tonight,” explained Wentzell. “It?s definitely not how we wanted to win, but the girls did a great job in staying focused.”The opening set saw the hosts fall behind 5-0 very quickly, and then 8-2 before they put together five straight points to cut the deficit to one.After some sloppy play from the Magicians staked English to an 18-17 lead, the Bulldogs got two kills and a block from Lisbeth Hernandez during a 4-point swing to up the lead to 22-17. Hernandez had two more kills before a forceful slam from teammate Keri Bryson ended the set.?After we came back in the first set, I told the girls that they needed to try to not play from behind, but get a lead and keep it,” said Wentzell. “Unfortunately, we weren?t able to do that and luckily we managed to come back again and again.”Hernandez and Bryson started off the second set on fire, with the former registering five straight points following back-to-back aces from the latter. Down 7-4, the Magicians reeled off seven straight points, forcing English into a timeout down 11-7.The Bulldogs duo would wreck havoc all game long, combining for all of the Bulldogs? 20 kills. Hernandez finished with 20 kills (six aces) while Bryson added three aces and five digs to her stat line.?Lisbeth is such a beast of a presence out there with her powerful hitting, and she?s only getting better,” said Wentzell. “Keri is our other middle hitter, and she played a great match as well, with some great blocking and serves.”The teams would exchange points until the visitors went on a 6-1 run to open up a 10-point lead at 20-10. Once more, the seemingly unfazed Bulldogs went on runs of five straight points and then six straight to tie things at 21.The Bulldogs got a kill from Alison Tobin before an ace from Hernandez gave English the 23-22 lead. After Marblehead?s defense gave the Bulldogs a free point, Tobin set up Bryson for the set-ending kill.?For us to come back from that far down was incredible, especially by volleyball standards,” explained Wentzell. “I thought the biggest point of the match came on the final play when we got touches from every player before Keri?s kill ended it.”English would face three separate five-point deficits. The Bulldogs got five straight points to take a 22-18 lead before service and unforced errors granted the hosts match point. Things fittingly ended on an ace from Hernandez.