MATTAPOISETT — Joseph Case came into the territory of a familiar South Coast Conference foe, Old Rochester, and earned a 3-0 sweep for a crucial league victory Wednesday night.
Set scores were 25-22, 25-20, 27-25.
Coming into the match, Case (17-1) came in on a 10-game winning streak, while entering its toughest week on the schedule with a matchup against defending Div. 5 champion Bourne on Monday, which the Cardinals won 3-2, and then two matchups with a perennial contender in the Bulldogs later in the week.
“We’re really taking it one day at a time,” Case head coach Brendan Kelly said. “Obviously, we want to do well in the tournament, and we want to make a run, and these girls practice and play so hard.”
In all three sets, the Bulldogs (15-4) held leads of seven, five, and four but Kelly said the Cardinals have demonstrated an ability to crawl back all season.
“They didn’t get rattled at all, even after some of those long runs,” Kelly said. “When it counted, they were finishing their plays at the net.”
The Bulldogs started the opening set on a four-point streak, but the Cardinals tied it up at five with a 5-1 run. The Bulldogs then led for the majority of the set and held a 20-15 lead, but a 10-2 run to close handed Case the opening set.
After each side took a point, the Bulldogs scored six consecutive points to grab a comfortable lead. However, the Cardinals scored 10 out of the next 14 points to tie it back up at 11. After a 15-15 tie, the Cardinals went on a 7-1 run to put it at 22-16. The Bulldogs went on two-point scoring bursts to try to extend the set a little bit more, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Cardinals were able to pull it out 25-20.
In the third set, the Bulldogs started by leading 8-4, and then kept the lead for most of the set, like the first two. Old Rochester would earn a set point with a 24-21 lead, but the Cardinals scored three straight points to tie it at 24, extending the target score to 26. Case would score three straight points again after being down 25-24, and freshman Kayla Dowdell helped the Cardinals complete the sweep on a kill, as they took down the Bulldogs 27-25.
“We’ve had so many games, and I’ve been growing so much, and I’m so proud of everybody working together.” Dowdell said, “We keep getting better and better. So I’m just very excited to keep the season going.”
Sadie Hartley-Matteson led the Bulldogs in kills with 12, adding two digs, Carly Mello had nine digs, and Erin Root had three service aces, while Mello, Katie Rodrigues, and Molly Franco all had two apiece.
Dowdell had 14 kills and three blocks for the Cardinals. Madeline Botelho had 10 kills and 12 digs, Lilly Rego had 10 kills and 16 digs, and six aces. Madison Silvera had 33 assists, and Madison McDonnell had nine digs.
