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# Hollis Brookline beats Bishop Guertin to win D1 girls volleyball title (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/hollis-brookline-beats-bishop-guertin-to-win-d1-girls-volleyball-title-video/
- Published: 2015-11-08T19:19:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-08T19:19:00.000Z
- Description: Hollis Brookline wins Division I title with win over Bishop Guertin
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, championship, girls volleyball, Hollis Brookline, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DERRY – As freshman, Maddy Blake and Bella Zampieri heard all about the Division I championship the Hollis Brookline High School girls volleyball team won in 2011.

The pair, the only newcomers on the varsity the year after the title, figured at some point in the next four years, the Cavaliers would be celebrating another championship.

![Hollis Brookline's Maddy Blake, left, and Bella Zampieri get a hug from Maddie Norris.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/jmd1vball110715-h9h16h3-1.jpg)

Hollis Brookline's Maddy Blake, left, and Bella Zampieri get a hug from Maddie Norris.

Blake and Zampieri saved the best for last, as the two seniors helped lead No. 4 HB to a 3-1 win Saturday night over No. 6 Bishop Guertin to win the Division I title at Pinkerton Academy in their final time wearing a Cavalier uniform. Game scores were 25-22, 25-12, 21-25 and 25-21.

"It was very tough and it took a lot," Blake said of the road to a title. "Hearing (HB coach Becky Balfour) always talk about that championship, it was something we wanted so bad. To do it as seniors feels amazing."

The Cavs (19-3) did it the hard way, playing 19 of a possible 20 sets in the postseason, including three five-game matches on the road to the final. HB also finished the year by winning 14 straight matches, with the team’s last loss coming at the end of September to the Cardinals.

"I'm just so proud of these girls," Balfour said. "I said to them at the beginning of the season, it's not where we are, it's where we're going to go. We played some strong teams right out of the gate.

"With all that adversity, we grew and moved forward. This is the product of that. That's a team (Bishop Guertin) that swept us in our own gym at the end of September. Coming in, we knew that we had to prove ourselves."

![Bishop Guertin's Lexie Cambray tries to hit around Hollis Brookline's Sophie Saunders.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/jmbghbvball110715-b6h11-1.jpg)

Bishop Guertin's Lexie Cambray tries to hit around Hollis Brookline's Sophie Saunders.

HB got a solid effort from Zampieri (27 digs) and Blake (10 kills, three aces), but also had several younger players step up as well.

Hannah Balfour had 38 assists and two aces, while freshmen Maddie Norris and Elizabeth Atkinson combined for 26 kills, and Mackenzie Powers had four aces and had a big serving streak that helped HB to a big win in the second game.

Bishop Guertin (15-7), which defeated three teams it had lost to in the regular season to reach the final, got 15 digs and 10 kills from Lexie Cambray while Jenna McCormack added 34 assists and 11 digs.

But after losing a close game to open the match, the Cardinals struggled in the second game and watched HB cruise to what could have been a crushing win.

Instead, Bishop Guertin battled back and took a close win in the third game to stay alive.

"It was a little frustrating, but I believed in my team, that we'd be able to come back from it," Cambray said of the second game. "We showed in the third game how we could play and that we deserved to be here."

The Cardinals came close to forcing it to a fifth game, staying within a couple of points of HB in the fourth game. Bishop Guertin tied it at 19, but couldn't get any closer.

"That fourth game was a battle with all kinds of things going on," Balfour said. "We had people hitting and that's what we try to do. That's our game. Our game isn’t a tip game, it was a hit-the-ball game. It's strong and we stuck with that."