ORANGE — One thing is clear about the Mahar girls volleyball team: it can win in incredibly dramatic fashion.
The Senators won a five-set thriller against Putnam, 3-2, Monday. A Carissa Thompson ace ended the final set and the match 27-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-27 and 16-14.
“Usually we either play really bad or really well,” Mahar coach Sarah Woodward said. “Today was right in between.”
In Sets 1 and 3, Mahar had to fight off multiple set points to earn the victories.
“I think that they were just able to not get down on themselves,” Woodward said. “They were able to comeback. That was the key, the mental aspect.”
Ava Santana directed both of the comebacks from the service line, leading her to team back from two deficits with deep and hard to manage serves.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Santana said. “If you just push all that out and really focus and know that you can go back to your training. What you do in practice you can do on the court.”
Santana was all over the court for the Senators (6-3), as well as being the vocal leader in the huddle.
“My strength is keeping the energy up,” Santana said. “I really work hard to motivate everyone else. I think that goes a long way.”
Santana had five aces, two kills and three digs. Fellow captain Aria Flematti had 15 assists for the Senators, with four digs.
The defense for the Senators had to be good, with Putnam (10-2) having good hitters and servers. Mahar’s Lauren Henne led the defense with 13 digs.
“The key for defense is always playing low,” Henne said. “You always have to be ready to back up people.”
In the final set, the Senators faced an 8-4 deficit before storming back to take the match.
“Today we definitely fought for it,” Henne said. “We definitely wanted it. I think the energy of the crowd helped, it was super loud in here.”
The Mahar crowd provided raucous support for the Senators.
There was a moment when play had to stop because some Mahar students were doing some heckling.
“Some of our boys were making rude comments,” Woodward said. “I am not going to tolerate that.”
In the first set, a 24-20 deficit turned into a win for Mahar behind Santana’s serve.
Santana’s serve initiated another comeback in the third set, when the score went from 21-15 to 22-22.
Jordyn Berry’s ace closed out the Beavers to give Mahar a 2-1 lead.
The second set went to Putnam, which battled back from an early deficit to win 25-15.
The Senators let a 24-18 lead slip away in the fourth set.
Hailie Meeker led Mahar with two blocks. Keanna Thompson and Johnson both had five digs.
