Nashua South girls volleyball overcomes nerves to knock off Nashua North

NASHUA - Whenever the Nashua High School South girls volleyball team takes the court against Nashua North, Panthers coach Wayne Siejkowski knows its not going to take long for him to know how his team will play.

At about 10 points in, Siejkowski gets a feel for whether the nerves of playing their biggest rival is going to affect the Panthers.

On Thursday, those opening points were a bit deceiving, but once South overcame its early jitters, it was able to dictate play.

The Panthers jumped out to an early, but North took the lead and kept the first game close before South pulled away late and then rolled to a 3-0 win over the Titans in Division I action. Scores were 25-21, 25-6 and 25-8.

"That first game sets the tone," Siejkowski said. "I could tell my girls were really nervous. Whenever we play North, it’s a huge, emotional game. I think we struggled at the beginning, especially with their serve. Once they figured out it’s just volleyball, and they could do it, they rolled into South volleyball."

Kara Kelliher led the Panthers (6-2) with eight kills, six aces and three digs and Catherine Covert added five kills, two blocks, two digs and an ace. Alexie Dearborn added 11 digs and three aces and Brianna Henderson led a big run in the second game from the service line for South.

After taking an 18-13 lead in the first game, North (3-5) struggled with serve-receiving, and when the Titans did return it, had a hard time containing South's offense. Michaela Choate led North with five kills and Alana Choate added three while Kylie Braunius had seven assists.

"I didn’t see the fight in my girls that I thought I would," North coach John Connolly said. "We were two steps behind the ball. They were faster than us. Our blockers, the ball was already hit before our blockers even got their hands up. Our back row was slow to react.

"It came down to speed. They’ve got a nice group there and they’re going to be good for a couple of years. With my group, they’ve got to decide how hard they want to play and how long they want to play."

South jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first game, but North rallied back to tie it up at 10. The Titans kept a narrow lead until the Panthers tied it up at 13, but North pulled out the next five points to take an 18-13 lead and force South to take a timeout.

"I told them this is volleyball, we know what we’re doing," Siejkowski said. "They are in a deep serve-receive for a reason. Back up a little, relax and play volleyball. Get the passes up and get into our system."

The Panthers won eight of the next nine points to go ahead 21-19, and although North tied it back up at 21, South was able to win the final four points to take the first game.

"I think nerves played a part," South senior Amber Hedquist said. "Another part was defensively, we struggled adjusting. Coach pointed out ways to tweak the defense and I think that changed the game around."

South controlled the second and third games from start to finish, getting out to 8-2 leads again before running away with each one.

Both teams are back in action on Monday, as South plays at Merrimack while North hosts Alvirne.