Winnacunnet girls volleyball continues successful run with sweep of Bishop Guertin

HAMPTON - Usually by this point in the season, the Winnacunnet High School volleyball team has been relegated to playing out final string without a sniff of sneaking into the Division I tournament.

Winnacunnet’s fortunes have changed in a big way under first-year coach Ben Molnar, and the Warriors are playing meaningful games in October with a spot in the tournament field firmly on their radar.

The latest victory in Winnacunnet’s resurgence came via Monday night’s 3-0 sweep of Bishop Guertin. Winnacunnet (8-4) won by set scores of 25-21, 25-12 and 25-20.

“It’s been crazy and seems unreal because we’ve never had a winning record and now we’re finally here,” Winnacunnet senior Emily Wheeler said. “I think after the first couple games we thought to ourselves ‘Wait a sec, we can win.' We also beat Salem and Dover, so those were turning points for us and gave us a lot more confidence.”

Winnacunnet went 11-61 in the four seasons since it last reached the Division I tournament in 2014 with an 11-7 record, which is the only winning record for the program since 2010. Winnacunnet currently rests in a three-way tie for sixth place in the standings with Spaulding and Salem.

“I knew preseason that we were going to have a good year.” Molnar said. “I feel like I have a good relationship with the girls and I knew we had some talent coming back. I was able to move some girls around and put them in positions to excel.”

Seniors Audrey Simmons and Stephanie Reed are two girls whose position changes have provided major dividends. Simmons moved from the middle to outside hitter, while Reed switched from the outside to libero. Simmons had 15 kills, three blocks and a pair of aces while Reed added 12 digs. Simmons’ sister, Claire, added 19 assists, four kills and three aces

“It’s incredible. It’s super fun to be here, and we learn a lot at practice and we’re super confident,” Audrey Simmons said. “Obviously you always want to win, but given the years we’ve had in the past, we tried but didn’t mesh as well. We had changes to our rotation where one of our outsides (Reed) moved to libero and she’s doing so much better there. I was in the middle and wasn’t getting set as much, so I feel more productive on the outside.”

Bishop Guertin (6-6) jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first set following a kill by Libby Knapp (12 kills).

Winnacunnet responded with a 9-2 run to take a 15-14 lead and it didn’t trail the rest of the set, as Audrey Simmons tied the game with a pair of kills and Reed followed with an ace. Emily Ellis extended Winnacunnet’s lead to 22-18 with a block of Knapp, and the 25-21 win was wrapped up by Reed feeding Audrey Simmons for the kill.

“We’ve had a trend of starting off pretty slow, but we’ve done a good job of getting back into it after digging ourselves a hole,” Audrey Simmons said. 

The Cardinals led 4-1 in Set 2 before Winnacunnet went on a 7-1 run that included an ace from Wheeler. Winnacunnet put the set out of reach by ripping off six straight points to take a 20-9 lead on its way to the 25-12 win.

“Winnacunnet is a great team and I think we just were flat and we lost our energy, and they just gained momentum and kept it,” Bishop Guertin coach Abby Savard said. “It’s just one of those years where when we bring it, we bring it and we’re unstoppable. When we come out flat, it’s hard to match that energy.”

Bishop Guertin hung with the Warriors and took a 14-13 lead following a Knapp kill, but an Audrey Simmons’ kill and Wheeler ace gave Winnacunnet back the advantage. Bishop Guetin closed to within 21-20 before an Audrey Simmons’ kill. She served out the rest of the match and finished it with an ace in the 25-20 third set win.

“I just come into every game looking to play the best that I can,” Audrey Simmons said. “Just having the mentality to want to get better; obviously coach has been a huge factor in helping me get better too. I just keep pushing myself.”

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday, as Winnacunnet travels to Merrimack and Bishop Guertin hosts Spaulding.

“This is good for the girls. We’ve got six seniors who really want to play some volleyball as one team and the chemistry is good right now, which is a huge benefit,” Molnar said. “They’re playing for one purpose.”