ATHOL — It wasn’t all pretty.
The Athol boys volleyball team made its fair share of mistakes as well as spectacular plays. But when it came down to Game 5, the Red Raiders got it done, defeating Putnam, 3-2, Wednesday in an East League matchup.
Athol won 20-25, 25-20, 25-15, 17-25, 15-10.
The Red Raiders are 4-1 overall, 3-1 in league play. The Beavers fell to 2-4, 0-4 in league play.
“We knew we had to come out strong,” captain Jordan Carrasquillo said about the pivotal Game 5. “We did. We started off with Colby Soltysik serving and he missed his first serve, so we needed everyone to step up afterwards. We came out really strong and confident and I really enjoyed that.”
Part of the confidence was having captain and senior Justin Blake, who had been out of the team’s previous two matches with a sprained ankle, start Game 5. After coming in as the libero for a brief portion of Game 3, Blake played the entirety of Game 5 in the backcourt. He helped set Carrasquillo for a spike to give Athol an 11-7 lead in Game 5. He also saved a Putnam hit from finding an open hole in the backcourt, turning it into a Herk spike.
“A big confidence boost was having Justin come in and being able to libero out,” said Carrasquillo. “Just the momentum of having Justin on the court — he’s really a good confidence player.”
The decision to have Blake play and to play the entirety of Game 5 came once Athol coach Sean MacDonald learned that he would be down to seven healthy players with the loss of libero Matt Wilhitte earlier in the day.
“I texted Justin and said, ‘Look, I’ve got a black shirt and if you’re feeling OK, I’m going to have you pass some balls,’” MacDonald said. “He said he was OK. … I wanted him to be, like, the fire extinguisher, have him on the wall but hope we don’t need it. We needed it and he was really able to help out the team.
“We’re going to let him keep resting his ankle, keep him from jumping,” added MacDonald. “He didn’t have to move a lot today or dive for any balls so it was nice that he could help us.”
Tied 7-7 in Game 4, the Beavers scored six straight points for a 13-7 lead. After trailing 16-9 and 18-10, the Red Raiders looked as if they were ready to mount a comeback, taking four of five points to cut the deficit to 19-14. However, two straight aces from Putnam stopped Athol’s momentum and allowed the Beavers to take Game 4.
The Red Raiders took Game 3, 25-15, after struggling at times in Game 2. Athol held a 22-14 lead, but were outscored 5-1 and saw its lead cut to 23-19. A spike by Potenti gave Athol the 25-20 win in Game 2.
The Red Raiders started slow, falling behind 11-7 in Game 1. They took the lead at 15-14 when a miscommunication in Putnam’s court allowed a ball to fall in between two defenders. Putnam rallied off four points off the serve to take a 23-19 lead. They won the game with a spike going across the net and in on the right side.
“We’ve just got to know what to do,” said Carrasquillo about his team’s slow start.
The Red Raiders have a league matchup on Friday at Chicopee High School. The Pacers are 1-2 overall, 1-2 in league play.