Coming into their Sept. 10 matchup, the Cardinal Huskies had lost four straight to the Red Devils of Crestwood, and long-time head coach Wanda Hoffman saw her team was on the verge of picking up a fifth after jumping out to a two-sets-to-one start.
Match photos click here.
Coming into their Sept. 10 matchup, the Cardinal Huskies had lost four straight to the Red Devils of Crestwood, and long-time head coach Wanda Hoffman saw her team was on the verge of picking up a fifth after jumping out to a two-sets-to-one start.
But that fifth loss was not meant to be, as Cardinal won the day in competitive fashion.
After a tough serve fell between two Huskies, senior Abby Guyette got her team started with a 1-0 lead. A four-contact violation was called against the Huskies, then a tip kill for Maddie Dustman got the Red Devils out to 3-0 lead to start the match.
A kill from senior middle blocker Morgan Csontos out of the front row would help the Huskies string together seven straight points.
Three unforced errors from the Red Devils forced Coach Hoffman to call her first timeout of the evening, her team trailing 7-3. A dominating performance came from Cardinal’s offense, orchestrated by senior setter Madelyn Ehrhardt and sophomore Olivia Krebs. Junior Ali Puruczky is continuing a strong campaign from her sophomore season.
Senior Lili Toll recorded back-to-back kills to force set point one for the Huskies. After Hoffman called another timeout, Toll concluded set one in strong fashion, 25-12.
The Huskies got off to another fast start after a four-contact violation and a hitting error called against the Red Devils. Ehrhradt would record a kill of her own, while Puruczky recorded a solo stuff at the net and extended the Huskies’ lead 4-1.
Back-to-back service errors from the Huskies allowed their opponent to crawl back and tie the set up at 8. First-year head coach Michael Chaffee was forced to call a timeout after senior Hannah Ward got hot out of the middle, recording back-to-back kills. At the timeout, the Huskies trailed 12-9.
The Huskies believed they cut the lead to three after Puruczky recorded another kill, but after a conversation with the officials, the play would be overturned and a replay was underway. The volleyball swung the Red Devils’ way and stretched their lead to four after libero Aubrey Fusci found the floor on a kill.
To start the fourth set, it looked like the Huskies were in trouble, trailing 5-1 before a long run at the service line for Csontos, who leads her team with 38 aces on the season. Puruczky tied the set up at seven, and the Huskies would go on a 7-5 run before Coach Hoffman would call her first timeout of the set.
Midway through the set, Dustman found her groove once again, recording a kill in zone four, pulling the Red Devils ahead, this time 20-17.
“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments,” said Chaffee on staying aggressive late in the match, “we just tried to stay as aggressive as possible.We played a lot of long rallies in this match, and we realized we weren’t going to get many easy points.”
Serving has been a strength for the Huskies. Ehrhardt recorded an ace and another point off of her serve. The offense continued to do its job, this time by Krebs, who added two more kills to her stat line. Set four ended with Puruczky getting another kill, this time out of the back row.
With the match tied at two sets apiece, the Huskies were on the verge of snapping a much-needed losing streak against a top conference opponent.
Much like the opening set, the Huskies jumped out to an early lead, 8-6. Coach Hoffman called a timeout after an error in the back row. But the Red Devils would not go away quietly. They would cut the lead to two, trailing 11-9 after a hitting error committed by the Huskies.
Cardinal was just two points away from capturing the come-from-behind win, but an ace from sophomore Jackie Blasiole tied the set at 13. An official timeout was called, and it felt like the momentum had been shifted to the Red Devils.
Another strong appearance from Puruczky put the Huskies within one point from the victory after a kill was recorded off the block. The Red Devils forced one match point after Ward had a kill down the sideline, but it would be a setting error and a kill from Puruczky out of the back row that would allow the Huskies to leave victorious.
It was a strong showing from both teams, led by two powerhouse coaches. Coach Hoffman entered the game starting her 32nd season at Crestwood. Coach Chaffee, on the other hand, began his first season at Cardinal, but 35th overall. Both coaches have well exceeded 500 career wins and know each other very well from their years at Crestwood and Windham, respectively.
The win marked the Huskies’ first win over Crestwood since October of 2021. They have picked up their second conference win, and would travel to Berkshire on Sept. 17 for their first matchup against the Badgers — a game where the Huskies hoped to play spoiler.
“We went in with our heads up, because we knew as soon as we dropped our heads, it would be over for us, because we have a hard time playing like that,” Csontos said. “We kept our heads and energy up.”
In the win against Crestwood, Puruczky led the way with 28 kills and 28 digs. She also added one ace and three assists. Csontos added eight kills and one ace to her stat line. Ehrhardt and sophomore Natalie Soltis each added five kills, while Krebs contributed four. Cardinal’s strong showing on the defensive end had four players in double-digits in digs, including Soltis and sophomore Adelyn Grant with 25, and the senior defensive specialist with 22. Ehrhardt dished out 35 assists, while Krebs added eight. Soltis led the way with 14 serving points at the line.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 6-5 overall, 2-0 in the CVC Valley Division.
“The win means a lot because it was a key league game against one of the top teams in the conference. I felt this was an important test for us,” Chaffee said. “We’ve been playing well, but we needed a league win over a really good team.
“I felt individually everyone had a very good game against Crestwood. We played well in every aspect, with a lot of enthusiasm and confidence. Looking ahead, we need to keep staying positive and playing with confidence. We’ve done a really good job of living in the ‘next play’ mentality.”
