The Mascenic volleyball team knew they were in for a fight against feisty Farmington Thursday night. After hosting the Tigers to end the regular season a week ago, coach Karen Gibson and the Vikings were well aware of how much energy the underdogs would bring to the table when they returned for a rematch in the NHIAA Division III quarterfinal. The roaring Tigers and their raucous traveling fanbase made such an impression on Gibson that she enlisted the Mascenic boys’ soccer team to attend volleyball practice – and loudly heckle the home team to prepare them for a rowdy playoff environment.
The No. 10 Tigers showed their fangs Thursday night, but the No. 2 Vikings took care of business, surviving a late Farmington push for a 3-1 win and a trip to the semifinals Tuesday.
Mascenic reeled off nine straight service points off the palm of Hannah Zina to open the match and never trailed in the first game, as Annika Martel (11 kills, nine aces) and Lyla Buxton (11 kills) owned the net. For a moment it appeared that the well-oiled Viking machine would grind Farmington down quickly. But the Tigers bounced back from the first-set loss and played even with the Vikings in the second before Mascenic streaked away to another win.
The Vikings made some uncharacteristic errors in the third set and trailed for the first time all night before dropping it 25-17, and the momentum was all Farmington’s.
“We knew that we were going to have to keep our composure,” Gibson said, “because [the Tigers] are very spirited. They play really hard, and I give them a lot of credit. I think they got better as the night went on. Their passing got better, and they were setting up their offense more and more. So I give them a ton of credit, they played really well against us.”
Mascenic was briefly down in the fourth and final set, but battled back, with libero Lindsey Coponen getting all over the floor to dig out tough shots. Delaney Traffie (eight kills) served to put it away 25-17 and the Vikings had a 3-1 victory.
Kenzie Cormier had another stellar night setting, with 30 assists.
“Every week she’s growing,” Gibson said. “We’re trying to think how else we can push her, because she’s improving every day.”
Gibson pointed to the Vikings’ 37 team kills and 13 aces to illustrate how well Mascenic is capable of playing when they play their game.
“That’s 50 points that were terminated on our offense,” Gibson said. “I feel great about that, those are really good numbers for a four-set game.”
The Vikings (16-1) earned themselves a trip to Pinkerton Academy Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the semifinals, where they’ll play No. 6 Inter-Lakes, who upset No. 3 Epping 3-2 Tuesday night. The Lakers and Vikings met in the 2019 finals, where Inter-Lakes won their first-ever state title over Mascenic.