Hollis Brookline girls volleyball cruises past Nashua South (video)

NASHUA - As the Nashua High School South girls volleyball team prepared for Wednesday's match against Hollis Brookline, Panthers coach Wayne Siejkowski tried not to emphasize the fact the Cavaliers were the lone undefeated team left in Division I.

But somethings just can't be hidden from a high school team.

South stumbled at the start and HB took advantage, as the Cavs rolled to a 3-0 win over the Panthers to improve to 14-0 on the season. Scores were 25-10, 25-18 and 25-11.

"We started the match a little scared, a little intimidated," Siejkowski said. "When a team comes into your gym, and they’re 13-0 and have only dropped one set, as much as we try as coaches to not put a focus on that, the girls know. I think that first match, especially, they were on their heels and they played a little scared."

Coming off a long day of volleyball on Monday at the VolleyHall Classic in Springfield, Mass., HB coach Becky Balfour thought the Cavs might have been a little drained against the Panthers (10-4), but they were able to overcome any fatigue, including in a close second game.

"They played fantastic, coming off an all-day tournament," Balfour said. "I think they were drained from that both physically and mentally. And (South is) a great team. They’re picking up stuff left and right, they’re defense was all over the place. We knew we had to stay the course, stay our game, keep serving strong."

Kaleigh Whalen had eight kills and six aces for the Cavs and Elizabeth Atkinson added nine kills and three blocks. Maddie Norris recorded nine kills, seven aces and four digs while Kyra Belden recorded 27 assists and six digs and Sammie Sheppard had 10 digs.

South got four kills each from Kara Kelliher and Brianna Henderson while Alexie Dearborn had 13 digs.

It was 4-4 early in the first game, as the teams alternated the first eight points before HB rattled off six in a row and nine of the next 10 to take a 13-5 lead on the way to the 25-10 win.

The Panthers regrouped in the second game, coming back from an early deficit to take a 12-10 lead. HB took five points in a row to go up 15-12, but South was able to close the gap to one three times, including 17-16.

"We knew South was going to be a good team and we knew they’d come out strong, so we had to come out twice as strong," Norris said. "I definitely think they started worked positions, putting the ball where we weren’t, so we had to be smarter in that game. We talked about how we needed to adjust and be more mindful. They noticed those holes, so we really had to stay on our toes, and make sure we were picking it up."

From there, the Cavs pulled away, going up 20-16 and holding on for the 25-18 win.

"I think some of the adjustments they made were on their offense," Siejkowski said. "That puts us out of system where it changes our attack. That wasn’t the best I’ve seen us play. Part of that is the pressure they put on us, and part of that is we just didn’t play as well. When we get into our system, we run a pretty good offense and we just weren’t in it."

HB got out to a 12-4 lead in the third game and was able to cruise to the 25-11 and the sweep of the Panthers.

"They settled in, they kept reading and they adjusted the defense to them," Balfour said. "We kept swinging. They needed to find their groove. I was pleased with how they did."

Both teams return to action on Friday, as HB travels to face Salem (11-2) and South goes to Manchester Central (0-13).