YARMOUTH – Early in the year, Kelvin Hasch said his Greely High volleyball team needed to clean up some little things, then the Rangers could be considered among the best in the state again.

Asked Thursday night where his team stood in regards to that, he responded, “I think we’re about 70 percent there.”

Well, the Rangers looked pretty close to perfect in their match against Yarmouth.

Greely took out the defending Class B state champion Clippers in a little over an hour, recording a 25-5, 25-22, 25-15 three-set sweep.

The Rangers, ranked fourth in Class A, ran off 18 consecutive points in the first set — 17 on serves by junior libero Lexi Foster — to seize control and never look back. Yarmouth would lead only once in the next two sets (2-1 in the second).

“When we start clicking on all cylinders, we can do that,” said Coach Hasch. “We’re still having a few problems getting everyone to click. But we played a very good game.”

It was Greely’s second three-set victory in two nights — the Rangers beat Scarborough on Wednesday — and lifted the team to 9-2. Yarmouth, losing its second match to a Class A school in four days, dropped to 9-4. The Clippers are ranked third in Class B.

Yarmouth, behind the early play of libero Lindsay Tyler, opened a 3-1 lead in the first set.

Then Greely’s Haleigh Roach scored on a kill down the right baseline, turning the serve over to Foster.

She served it deep and the Clippers had trouble returning it. When they did, Roach or Kristen Atwood was there with a kill shot or a block to keep the Greely run going.

“It’s kind of fun, but you’ve got to keep your cool,” said Foster. “I get one touch on the ball and my team finishes it off. I feel very confident when we’re playing like that.”

Jim Senecal, coach of the Clippers, called a time-out after Foster’s sixth serve, but it didn’t slow the Rangers down.

“You know, she’s a very good server,” he said. “And Greely is a team that can intimidate you. They’re very strong and very talented. And I saw it in the girls’ eyes during that sequence.

“And once that happens, it’s hard to stop it. We just couldn’t get the ball out of the back row to do anything offensively.”

The Clippers, spurred on by Gina Robertson and Kate Myers, played much better in the second set, rallying from 19-9 down to within two points. But they could not pull even as Roach, Katie Ventre and Atwood scored key points at the net.

In the third set, Greely took an early lead before Yarmouth settled down. The Clippers pulled within 18-15 but had an unforced service error. Roach then served for the final six points.

“We have some momentary lapses,” said Roach. “But we’re able to pick each other up now, when we didn’t have that earlier in the year.”

Hasch certainly liked the effort, especially after last night’s match with Scarborough.

“That takes a toll on the kids,” he said, of the back-to-back matches. “They’re not professionals, they’re just kids who go to school all day. And then they come and play their hearts out.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH

 

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