TURNERS FALLS — Momentum can change sharply, and often out of nowhere, in the postseason.
Such was the case for the Turners Falls volleyball team on Friday night.
The sixth-seeded Thunder cruised to a commanding victory in the opening set, and appeared destined for a spot in the quarterfinal round. But No. 11 Southwick had other ideas, and the visiting Rams rode the presence of middle hitter Sarah Cerone to charge all the way back for a 12-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 victory in the preliminary round of the WMass Division 3 tournament.
Turners finished its season 13-8 overall, while Southwick (15-6) advanced to play No. 3 Lenox (16-4) on Monday in the Div. 3 quarterfinal round.
The hosts trailed 7-5 early in the first set, but riding the serving of senior Lindsay Whiteman and the offensive work of classmate Dabney Rollins, Turners ripped off a 20-5 run in response. Steph Peterson put down an ace late in the frame, and seventh-grader Madi Liimatainen also contributed a pair of late kills. Abbi Holloway’s block on set point handed the Thunder a commanding 25-12 win out of the gate.
While that opening stanza had folks in attendance riding high, Southwick rose to the occasion over the next three sets. The Rams never trailed in the second set, with Emily Butcher’s service run of seven points opening up a 19-11 advantage. Turners climbed back within 24-20 with Peterson at the service stripe, but Southwick’s Kayla Andrade slammed a kill to even the match with a Game 2 victory.
“We completely lost all of our momentum,” offered Turners head coach Kelly Liimatainen. “I don’t know why or what happened. We couldn’t pass the ball. One mistake led to the next.”
Playing with an underdog mentality, the Rams took the lead for good in the third set when Jennifer Motsko contributed a kill to put the visitors on top, 13-12. A kill from Liimatainen had Turners still within striking distance down 23-19, but the Rams won the final two points on errors to move within a game of the quarterfinal round.
Another big run keyed Southwick to victory in Game 4. This time it was Aniya Kamara at the stripe, and her team ripped off six straight points to snag a 15-11 advantage.
Turners got within 18-17 with sophomore Emily Young coming on to serve, but the Rams won seven of the final eight points on the night, and back-to-back errors from the Thunder sealed the deal. Cerone registered four blocks at the net in the win, altering a plethora of Turners offensive attempts in the waning sets.
“We just didn’t come to play and (Southwick) did,” Liimatainen said. “There was a lot of fear in our eyes, unfortunately, as the match progressed. It’s disappointing, especially with the way we came out and started the night.”
Madi Liimatainen’s seven kills were tops on the Thunder roster, and she added an ace as well. Rollins put down six kills and three aces to go with three digs, while Whiteman registered eight digs and three aces.
It was the final match for seniors Rollins, Whiteman and Hailey Bogusz.