MANCHESTER, NH – Division I is now in the rearview mirror, and if the first three games in Division II are any indication, the road ahead looks welcoming for the Manchester Memorial High School girls volleyball team.
The Crusaders – winless in last year’s D-I campaign – are off to a 2-1 start in this, their first season competing at the D-II level.
In fact, they have won seven of the 10 in-match games they’ve played to date.
Their most recent victory came Wednesday evening when they defeated visiting Merrimack Valley, 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-15).
Prior to that, Memorial defeated cross-city rival Manchester Central, 3-0, in the season opener on Sept. 4, and then fell, 3-1, at Laconia two days later.
Among the girls competing, a surge in confidence has accompanied the relative early-season success, said Memorial head coach Nicholas Dobe.
“It’s a young team and they’re working hard and competing much harder than in years past,” he said. “They’re hustling more. They’re starting to get into it more. They’re now realizing that when they battle for each point, they can be up there with any team they face.”
Indeed, Merrimack Valley head coach Tom Clark, who this year is guiding his team into its first season at the varsity level, said he was impressed by Wednesday’s hosts.
“I think that’s a pretty good team there … I thought we competed with them today,” he said of Memorial.
“Bigger schools sometimes may need to move down to compete because their programs may need that adjustment,” he said. “At the end of the day, in high school, you want competition, so you have to shift things around a bit … and I have no problem with them moving down.”
Next up for Memorial is a home match against 2-0 Kingswood at 6 p.m. Friday. The Crusaders will then welcome 3-0 John Stark to the Queen City on Monday before embarking on four-straight matches on the road beginning with a clash at 3-0 Milford next Wednesday.
“We’ve got another big game Friday, so we’ll hopefully build on our homestand,” said Dobe. “Wins and losses isn’t really the goal. We’re looking for continuous improvement, and competing. That’s our focus this season.”
Clark expressed a similar sentiment about his young group, which is scheduled to play at 1-1 Pelham on Friday.
“We’re figuring things out on the fly,” said Clark. “It’s a work in progress, but we’re excited, we’re making progress and we’re just going to keep moving forward … we’ll do some good things soon.”
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