EAST PROVIDENCE — The host East Providence High School and Mount St. Charles Academy girls’ volleyball teams squared off in a Division I-North thriller Wednesday night, Oct. 22, at Carvalho Court, the visiting Mounties narrowly winning in five sets by the scores of 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 13-15.
East Providence was led offensively by Jayla Semedo’s 13 kills, Marina Ramos’s eight kills and Cassia Spivey’s 25 assists. Defensively, the Townies were paced by Emma Drolet’s 19 digs and Corrie Traverse’s 13 digs.
“That was a fun match. As a volleyball player and coach you want to be involved in matches like these,” said East Providence coach Alex Butler. “The outcome is not what we want, but that is how it happens sometimes.”
Momentum shifted throughout the night. The Townies started off slow which resulted Mount taking the first set. It looked like the Mounties might take control of the contest when they were up 9-3 in the second set. E.P. then went on a run of their own taking nine of the next twelve points to tie the game at 1-1.
Mount St. Charles led for most of the third set, but a late surge by East Providence allowed the locals to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, the Mounties led for most of the way and E.P. had a late surge again. However, this time the Mounties were able to hold off the Townies resulting in a 2-2 tie.
In the final set, East Providence struggled to find its footing and only led after the very first point. The Mounties then went on a 6-2 run and eventually would go on to take the fifth set and the match, 3-2.
This was the second match of the year between the Mounties and Townies. The first ended in Mount St. Charles coming away with a 3-0 win. It’s the second straight year Mount has swept E.P. during the regular season, which Coach Butler took notice of.
“They have a strong program,” he said. “Every year we have battles with them. Some years they got us and some years we get them. This year they beat us.”
Two of the clear standouts in the win were front-row players Ramos and Semedo. Coach Butler gave them high praises.
“Marina has come a long way as a player. The last three or four weeks she has really taken her game to the next level. She has been able to attack and find open spots,” he said. “We need the middle with Marina and Jayla to produce. We have to get production from them and it’s starting to jump up.”
Wednesday’s match was the first time the Townies went the five-set distance this year, which Coach Butler knew would be good experience for his team.
“I needed to see us play in that type of atmosphere,” he said after the game. “Things get a bit crazy and loud. It was good to test the focus and that happened tonight.”
Both teams improved to 11-4 on the season, though Mount St. Charles now holds the tiebreaker over the Townies in the race for the I-North regular season title and a higher playoff seed because of its season sweep of matches. East Providence next prepares to travel to neighboring Bay View Friday night, Oct. 24, while the Mounties play host to Classical High School on the same evening. E.P’s game starts at 5:45 p.m.
— Story by Nick Friend
— Photos by Tim Marshall
