(Video clips by Bill Gilman, Photos by Stacy Harrison.)
MANCHESTER, NH — Trinity High made history Thursday night, rallying past Belmont, 3-2, in the Division III quarterfinals, Thursday evening.
The score was 15-10 in the fifth set.
With the win, third-seeded Trinity (15-2) advances to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. The Pioneers will take on No. 2 Concord Christian (15-2) at Laconia High School, Thursday, Nov. 7, 5 p.m.
”This is a huge win (for the program),” said Trinity Head Coach Ashley Porter. “I could not be more proud. I knew they could do it. I told them if you give 100 percent you will take it, and they did.”
Trailing two sets to one, Trinity rallied behind the play of middle hitter Ava Tetu. The 5-9 freshman provided a spark both offensively and defensively to ignite the comeback. Tetu finished with 13 kills and five blocks.
”I was nervous but I knew that our team had each other’s backs,” she said. “I was just playing with confidence, trying to keep the energy up.”
Down a set and leading 16-15 in the fourth, Trinity went on a 9-2 run to close out the set, 25-17, and tie the match.
Tetu had two kills and a block in the decisive run, while junior Sophia Romano had a kill and a service ace.
Trinity had not played a five-set match all season. The Pioneers came into the tournament on an 11-match win streak, during which they only dropped one set.
Even so, Trinity remained poised and battled for every point. With the score tied, 8-8, in the fifth set, the Pioneers reeled off four straight points to take control. The run featured a pair of blocks by Tetu and a nifty tap winner by Kim Bui off a set by senior Abby Santom.
No. 6 Belmont (11-6) tried to rally, closing to within 12-10 but Tetu snuffed out any hope of a comeback when she took a set from Santom and blasted a kill just inside the end line. Tetu then served out the final two points of the match to send Trinity into the semifinals.
Santom, for her part, played a brilliant match, finishing with a whopping 29 assists. Every set was right where the hitters needed them to be.
Romano finished with nine kills and Bui had five. Emily Flynn added four kills and four aces.
Romano also had five aces but her usual booming serves were blunted, to a degree by the play of Belmont libero Molly O’Connell. The sophomore patrolled the back line for the Red Raiders and did an exceptional job of digging serves and attempted deep kills.
Trinity came out sluggish and had to come from behind to win the opening set, 26-24.
The second and third sets won’t go on Trinity highlight reels. The Pioneers had numerous communications breakdowns and unforced errors. Belmont won 25-13 and 25-16 to take a two sets to one lead.
Porter said the coaches didn’t panic and neither did the team.
”I just told them we had to forget about (those sets) completely and start all over again,” she said. “I knew they could do it.”