WA Girls Volleyball fell to Concord-Carlisle in straight sets on Thursday, April 1st. Concord Carlisle’s (CC) efficient and aggressive style of play combined with Westford Academy’s lack of cohesiveness ended up contributing to the final result. 

Early on in the the game, it was a back and forth battle. Long rallies and great efforts from both teams made for a very competitive opening 20 points of the set. 

After going down 6-7 to begin the opening set, CC went on a 19-6 run to win the first set with a score of 25-13. This run was largely because of Concord-Carlisle’s #23. Spike after spike by #23 generated a large part of CC’s 19-6 run.

To begin the second set, CC came out aggressive taking a commanding 18-2 lead. Frustration for WA began to set in, because their effort was there, the ball just didn’t seem to be bouncing in their favor. 

Setter Haleigh Millet was setting up her teammates for spikes all match long, and continued to do so in the second set in an attempt to make a comeback. But ultimately, the lead was too much to overcome. Concord Carlisle seemed to have an answer for every hit WA made, which resulted in CC taking the second set with a score of 25-7.

“CC was a tough match for us because they are more of a complete team. They also moved the ball (passing, serving, and hitting) and communicated well,” Head Coach Brandon Eang said. 

Miscommunication by WA seemed to be a big issue throughout the entire match, but especially in the second set. In the second set, hits that could have been returned fell untouched multiple times in the second set. This was especially impactful in this match because CC played a very aggressive, yet clean game from start to finish, so WA did not have much room for error.

Although WA had no momentum on its side to this point in the game, WA came out firing to begin the third set. WA jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to two consecutive aces by Haleigh Millet. 

Unfortunately, all of WA’s momentum was immediately squashed when Concord-Carlisle went on a 6 point run to take a 6-3 lead. This seemed to be the nail in the coffin for WA. After a frustrating second set, WA finally had some hope to begin the third quarter, but then CC’s six point run drained all of the energy and enthusiasm out of WA’s players.

WA continued to fight making acrobatic plays to keep rallies alive, but CC seemed to always have an answer. Another five point run from CC sealed the deal and gave Concord Carlisle the victory over WA with a final score of 3-0. If there is one thing that WA could take away from their game against Concord Carlisle, it is that the effort was there from start to finish. Despite the adversity, WA fought hard on every possession. 

“They are in sync and move well together — and it showed because they are ranked #1 in our league,” Eang said.

WA Girls Volleyball plays next in the DCL Playoffs on Monday, April 12 at 6:30pm at Newton South High School.