The Bristol Eastern girls volleyball team, on paper, may not have seemed like a likely CCC tournament finalist, never mind a threat to win the whole thing.
The Lancers went 11-5 in CCC play during the regular season, which made them the No. 7 seed in the 16-team tournament. The top two seeds went a combined 30-2, and the next four seeds were a combined 52-12. That’s some pretty good volleyball, but Eastern knows how to play good volleyball.
Eastern claimed the CCC tournament title on Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over No. 9 Simsbury at Simsbury High School. The set scores were 24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18. Hannah Webber had a massive night for the Lancers with 33 kills. Abby Jones tallied six aces, 42 assists and six digs. Alex Shorette had four aces, two kills, 16 digs and three assists while Lauren Bender added 15 kills and 13 digs.
Eastern began the CCC tournament with a 3-0 win over No. 10 Plainville at Bristol Eastern High School on Monday. The set scores were 25-4, 25-16, 25-11. Webber had 24 kills and seven aces, Alyssa Adorno served up nine aces, and Bender added five kills and six digs.
Eastern next faced No. 2 Conard on Tuesday at Conard High School in West Hartford. The Lancers lost a heartbreaker to the Chieftains during the regular season, 3-2, on Oct. 20 in West Hartford. Eastern made sure the return trip didn’t include the same result as it eliminated Conard, 3-2. The set scores were 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11. Webber tallied 41 kills, five aces and nine digs while Jones added 51 assists, four aces and 13 digs. Sarah Lacouture came up big for the Lancers with 19 digs.
Eastern faced No. 7 Glastonbury in the semifinal round on Thursday at Simsbury High School. The Lancers and Guardians met in the regular season at Bristol Eastern, with the visitors escaping with a 3-2 win. Eastern once again avoided a repeat performance as it dispatched Glastonbury, 3-1. The set scores were 20-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-19. Webber had 28 kills and five aces while Bender added 18 kills, seven digs and two aces, according to a story from Michael Letendre for The Bristol Edition. Shorette had 12 digs, four aces and a block, according to Letendre’s story. Lacouture continued her solid play with 13 digs, Adorno added three aces and two digs, and Jayna Hatcher tallied two assists and one dig.
Eastern (18-5) is the No. 10 seed in the Class L state tournament. The Lancers begin play Monday with a 6 p.m. home match against No. 23 Torrington (10-11).
Photo caption: Bristol Eastern girls volleyball players pose with the CCC banner after winning the tournament championship on Saturday. (Photo credit: Bristol Public Schools Twitter account)
