Dover girls volleyball stays hot in win over Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH - Including it’s season opening loss to four-time defending Division I champion Hollis Brookline, the Dover High School volleyball team has shown thus far its primed to be a contender once again.

The latest illustration of that came via Wednesday’s night’s 3-0 road sweep of Portsmouth inside Stone Gymnasium. Dover (4-1) won by set scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-15.

“We’ve got seven seniors on this team and they’ve got a lot of experience playing with each other,” Dover coach Whitney Carrier said. “Right now we’re just focused on doing the little things and staying disciplined and staying focused every game.

“When we make a mistake, we’re letting it go. The communication is great right now.”

Dover is coming off a 15-5 season that ended in the Division I semifinals. The Green Wave has lost only one set since dropping its 3-1 decision to HB. 

Junior Rachel Vitko led Dover on Wednesday with 11 kills and 12 digs, while seniors Lindsay Donahue (12 digs, five aces) and Kyra Cantwell (three kills, 11 digs) also led the way for the Green Wave.

“We lost out first game against Hollis Brookline, but we’ve learned from our mistakes and became better,” Cantwell said. “Our defense is very strong and we have great passers in the back row. We’re all just confident with the season and we’re coming out strong. We all have a passion.”

Portsmouth dropped to 2-3 in the first season as coach for Madison Lightfoot, a year after the Clippers went 12-7 in their first year in D1 that ended in the first round of the tournament.

“Dover is a strong team, and we made a number of mistakes that hurt us throughout,” Lightfoot said. “We have a very versatile group in that it is versatile and unique that we can play at a number of positions. Right now, we’re searching for consistency from our girls.”

Dover took control in Set 1 with a 5-0 run that broke a 9-9 tied. Portsmouth closed within 16-15 after a Corinne Lamond block, but Vitko and Cantwell finished off a 9-2 run with kills to close out the set.

Portsmouth couldn’t sustain any long consistent runs due to its own errors - and Dover’s impenetrable defense that ended up with 52 digs. Sierra Castonguay and Caitlin Quinn added six digs each.

“Having good defense really sets up our hitters to have big kills throughout,” Castonguay said.

Dover overcame an early deficit in Set 2 with a 6-0 run that ended with a Cantwell kill to give Dover a 9-4 lead.

Portsmouth closed to within 9-8, but a Vitko kill propelled a 9-1 run that included three aces to give Dover an 18-9 lead. Vitko and Katy Cantwell closed the set with kills. Dover left no doubt by ripping off nine straight points in Set 3 to take a 14-5 lead.

“They just never give up on the ball. They’re are some plays that they keep going, where I’m like 'They’re still playing,'” Carrier said. “They never give up on the ball and that has been the X-factor so far this year.”