Monique St. Cyr may only be a junior, but if her three years setting for Jamestown High’s volleyball team have taught her anything, it’s that you never want to allow a team, especially a rival, force you to five games.
So, with her team ahead of district rival Grafton two games to one, but trailing 18-16 in the potential match-clinching fourth set, St. Cyr helped make sure that didn’t happen.
“I just knew I didn’t want to go to five games,” St. Cyr said of her thought process late in the fourth set. “You never want to [go to five games] against any team, but especially not a good one, because anything can happen in that situation.”
After Olivia Kavanaugh’s ace brought the Eagles within one, 18-17, St. Cyr tallied back-to-back points – the first a big-time block on Grafton power hitter Ashley Lind, which St. Cyr followed with a beautiful cross-court spike – to give Jamestown its first lead of the set.
The Eagles never relinquished that lead – although back-to-back service errors by Grafton assisted in that – and after two service points from Allison Walls to close it out, earned a 25-19, 19-25,25-17, 25-21 victory.
“When we were down, I just knew someone had to step up,” added St. Cyr, who finished with 24 assists and 13 digs. “After we got the lead, our energy really picked up and I knew we were going to win.”
The win bumped Jamestown’s unbeaten Bay Rivers record to 8-0 (11-1 overall) on the year and improved their district winning streak to 26 games dating back to last season. The loss dropped perennial powerhouse Grafton to an unfamiliar 5-3 on the year.
Eagles’ coach Tom Stephenson said he was simply pleased to walk off the court with a victory after what he labeled one of his team’s worst performances of the season.
“Give Grafton credit, they did a lot to challenge our discipline on defense and try and keep us from playing our game,” Stephenson said after the game. “It was pretty sloppy out there at times, but an ugly win is still a win.”
Exactly how close has this rivalry been over the years? In Stephenson’s eight years at Jamestown, the Eagles record against Grafton is 11-12.
“We’ve won five straight, but there were years where they beat us probably six or seven times in a row,” Stephenson said.
For Grafton coach Dena Montini, she can’t remember the last time in her 13 years the squad had three losses before the half-way point of the season. Having won a handful of district titles during her lengthy tenure, she says it’s rare to have such a young core that is inexperienced with ‘big game’ adversity.
“I’ve never been in this position before,” Montini said of being three games back of the district lead at the season’s half-way point. “I think there’s a little bit of self-destruction that goes on when things don’t go our way.”
After the two sides split the first two sets, Jamestown’s serve-receive was excellent in not giving up a single ace during game three en route to a 25-17 win.
Grafton was in control and appeared poised to force a deciding fifth set in game four, but the Eagles kept nibbling late until St Cyr and Co. stole the show.
After leading 15-10 midway through the set, the Clippers failed to record a service point the rest of the way.
“I’m not really sure what happened,” Montini added. “We have to learn how to keep it together for two to three points, not just one.”
St. Cyr acknowledged Thursday’s victory is a big step towards the Eagles’ ultimate goal of a district championship, but was quick to add that it can’t deter her team from the approach that has gotten them this far.
“This is big, but we look at every match as our biggest one of the season,” St. Cyr said. “That’s just the mentality we have.”
Jamestown def. Grafton 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, 25-21
Standouts:
Jamestown (11-1, 8-0 Bay Rivers)- Kelly Esch 17 digs, 10 kills; St. Cyr 24 assists, 13 digs, 8 aces; Victoria Bowen 12 digs, 8 kills
Grafton (5-3, 5-3 Bay Rivers)- Christa Hall 37 assists, 15 digs; Lind 16 kills, 10 digs; Kendall Mahoney 18 kills
