By Chris Paul
The Londonderry High School Girls’ Volleyball squad was able to narrowly defeat Bishop Guertin in the first round of the Division I playoffs, but after one of their important forces at the net was sidelined, fell to Dover in the quarterfinals.
The Lady Lancers headed into the championship tournament as the number five seed and hosting the number 12 seed at LHS on Wednesday, Oct. 25., but despite the seeding numbers, the Lady Cardinals gave the home team quite a scare.
The match also took out senior captain, Ally McGonagle, who went down in the third set with a knee injury and didn’t return for the remainder of the playoffs.
In that first round playoff match, Londonderry started very strong, leading throughout the first set and eventually taking the game 25-21, after breaking away from their opponents at 13-12 mid-way through.
The second set also looked to have Londonderry cruising, winning quite easily 25-12, and including a nine-point run with senior Mea Bizzarro serving.
In the third set, BG began their attempt at a comeback, leading 11-3 and 13-5, before Londonderry mounted a charge. In that attempt to close the gap, feeding McGonagle with point-winners, the captain came down, off a kill attempt, awkwardly, and her season ended.
The Cardinals went on to win that set 25-20 and the following set 27-25. The LHS squad was never out of either set, but the senior captain’s presence at the net was sorely missed.
The final set was another nail-biter for Londonderry fans, but LHS final came away with the 16-14 win.
McGonagle had 15 kills and nine digs in her three sets. Sophomore Annie Williams got 15 kills; senior Sarah DeFazio had 46 assists; sister Liv DeFazio got seven kills and seven digs; senior Abby Harrington finished with 19 digs; sophomore Riley Campo got five kills and four aces; and Bizzarro finished with eight digs and three aces.
The loss of McGonagle’s leadership was once again missed when the team traveled to Dover High School.
The Lancers dropped three-straight sets to the Green Wave in the quarterfinal on Friday night in Dover.