Junior Amanda Hodak (5) came up big for the Holy Cross girls volleyball team this past Friday night in their 3-2 comeback win over North Branford in a Class S quarterfinal at home. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
The eighth-seeded Holy Cross girls volleyball team seeks their first championship match appearance in over a decade this afternoon at New Britain High School’s Chick Shea Gymnasium.
Standing in the way of the Crusaders is fifth-seeded Haddam-Killingworth of the Shoreline Conference. The Cougars are led by senior Shoreline Co-Player of the Year and first team All-Shoreline performer Reese Timothy, junior second team All-Shoreline player Ava Mazzotta and senior honorable mention All-Shoreline performer Sammy Minickene. Timothy and Minickene are co-captains. Timothy and Mazzotta are not only the top two players on the team in kills, but they also lead the way in assists. Minickene is the team’s most dangerous server and leads the way in aces.
H-K (18-6) defeated No. 12 Sports and Medical Sciences Academy-Hartford in the second round (3-0) and fourth-seeded Wolcott Tech-Torrington in the quarterfinal round (3-0). The Cougars are 18-6 on the season.
Holy Cross (19-6) is led by senior tri-captains Sarah Medeiros, Isabella Oliver and Antonia Leary. Seniors Maria Codianni and Jasmin Howard are also key contributors. What has helped the Crusaders as well is contributions from younger players like sophomores Quinn Barry, Mari Berardis and Corinne Lomax.
Holy Cross defeated No. 25 Terryville in the first round (3-0), No. 9 Immaculate-Danbury in the second round (3-0) and No. 17 North Branford of the Shoreline Conference in the quarterfinal round (3-2).
In the quarterfinal comeback win over North Branford on Friday night:
- Medeiros had 14 kills and Leary was right behind her with 13.
- Oliver had four aces, a serve percentage of 95.7, and 16 points.
- Leary, Berardis and Lomax all had three total blocks.
- Junior Amanda Hodak had 11 digs with Mederios and Codianni chipping in nine apiece.
- Oliver had 28 assists and just one error.
- Codianni had 17 serve receives, followed by Medeiros with 16 and Hodak with 12.
Holy Cross last reached the championship match in 2012, when it lost to perennial power Coventry, 3-0, in Class S. That is the only championship match appearance to date for the Crusaders, who hope to change that this afternoon.
