YARMOUTH—Write off Yarmouth’s volleyball team at your own peril.

Because the Clippers never say die.

In fact, with the playoffs just a week away, the five-time reigning Class B state champions are very much alive and well.

Thursday evening, on Senior Night, in their return to their refurbished gym, Yarmouth, coming off losses in two of its previous three matches, hosted surging York in a pivotal showdown and while the Clippers got pushed and even had an apparent match point taken away, they found a way to earn their biggest victory of the season to date.

And in the process, reminded everyone that the road to the championship will have to go through Yarmouth.

Again,.

The Clippers rolled in the first set, 25-12, as seniors Lilli Burrows and Norah Lushman each had a long service run and junior hitter extraordinaire Grace Keaney was a menace at the net.

The Wildcats then nearly let a big lead slip away in the second game, but they held on for a 25-23 victory to pull even.

When York took a 6-0 lead in the third set, it was gut-check time for Yarmouth, but behind Lushman’s serving and passing and dominance at the net from Keaney and junior Ella Cameron, the Clippers came back and won 25-20 to take the lead in the match.

The Wildcats again went ahead 6-0 in the fourth game and again Yarmouth rallied. The Clippers then got to the brink of victory at 24-19 before York got two points back. Yarmouth then appeared to win the match, but the officials ruled the point had to replayed and the Wildcats not only won it, but they took the next two to tie the score.

But the Clippers weren’t about to let victory slip away as they won the next two points and took the game, 26-24, and the match, 3 to 1.

Yarmouth improved to 10-3 on the season and dropped York to 10-2 in the process.

“This definitely wasn’t an easy one,” said Clippers coach Erin Quirk. “The girls fought the whole time and it was amazing to see. This was good for us getting ready to go into playoffs.”

No quit

After starting with a 3-0 home loss to Washington Academy, Yarmouth caught fire and beat visiting Falmouth in four games, swept visiting Gray-New Gloucester, outlasted host York in five sets, swept visiting Cheverus, edged visiting Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough by 3-2 margins and blanked host Sanford and visiting Deering. After a 3-0 loss at Washington Academy, the Clippers needed five games to edge reigning Class A champion Gorham, then lost in five sets Tuesday at Greely, Yarmouth’s first loss to the Rangers in eight years.

York, meanwhile, has beaten every team it’s faced, with the exception of a five set home loss to Yarmouth.

In addition to the earlier meeting, the Clippers also swept the Wildcats a year ago.

Thursday, on Yarmouth’s Senior Night, 10 players and their families were honored in a pregame ceremony, then the Clippers got to play in the high school gym for the first time all season.

“I love the atmosphere we have here,” said Quirk. “Being back in our home was a great way to wrap up the regular season.”

York then hoped to beat Yarmouth for the first time ever, but instead, the Clippers rediscovered their winning form and improved to 15-0 all-time versus the Wildcats, dating to 2017.

Yarmouth never trailed in the opening set, as a kill from senior Madison Beaudoin capped a long point to start the match, then Lushman served up five straight points, including a pair of aces, for a quick 6-0 lead. Keaney then first made her presence felt with a pair of kills to make it 10-2 before the Wildcats got a kill from senior Hannah Moroney and an ace from senior Lauren Chagnon to pull within five. That’s as good as it would get for the visitors, as Clippers senior Alyssa Rousseau served up an ace which hit the top of the net, then dropped, and another point made it 14-8. York crept back to 15-10 on an ace from senior Brooke Roe and was still in it at 17-11 before Yarmouth ended all doubt with seven straight points, highlighted by two aces from Burrows. After the Wildcats stayed alive with a point, Keaney’s kill ended the first game, 25-12.

Burrows led the way with six service points, Lushman added five and Keaney produced three kills and two blocks.

“We have some young players out there and the gym and the nerves might have gotten to them early,” said Wildcats coach Suzanne Bradley.

York then turned the tables in a lengthy second set, which needed a half hour to complete.

The Wildcats started the game by winning a point to take their first lead in the match. An ace from Moroney and a kill from Roe made it 7-2, forcing Quirk to call timeout. It helped, as the Clippers scored eight of the next 11 points to pull even, 10-10, but a service fault gave York the lead for good. The Wildcats got kills from sophomore Makayla Zietala and freshman Evie Martin, then went up, 22-17, on an ace from Zietala. Again, Quirk called timeout and again, it worked, as a Keaney kill and a Keaney block sparked a run that cut the deficit to 23-22. Yarmouth appeared to win the next point as well to pull even, but a do-over was ruled and York went up by two. A service fault kept the Clippers’ hopes alive, but a kill from Martin gave the Wildcats a 25-23 victory to even the match, 1-1.

Junior Bella Parrotta had six assists and Martin and Roe added three kills apiece, helping neutralize three kills and two blocks from Keaney and four assists and three service points from Lushman.

Yarmouth returned to form in the third game, but it begin inauspiciously.

The first six points went to York, as Parrotta served up a couple of aces. A kill from Martin made it 9-4, but Cameron made her presence felt with a kill and senior Laila Brewer and Burrows added kills as well to cut the deficit to three. After the Wildcats got a kill from Roe, the Clippers embarked on a 7-0 run, with six of the points served by Cameron, four of them coming via an ace. York then scored six straight points to lead, 16-14, as Martin got the job done at the service line. Back came Yarmouth with five straight points, as a Keaney kill tied it, then she had a block to give the Clippers the lead for good, 17-16. The Wildcats were within a point at 19-18, but Keaney had consecutive kills to force Bradley to call timeout. It didn’t help, as a kill from junior Mackenzie Lentz put Yarmouth on the brink, then York couldn’t return the ball, giving the Clippers the set, 25-20, pushing them a step closer to victory.

Keaney had five kills in the game, while Cameron served up four aces and had two kills and Lushman added five assists.

The Wildcats hoped to extend the match and got off to another fast start in the fourth set, winning the first six points, capped by two aces from Zietala, but again, they couldn’t hold it.

A Keaney kill sparked the comeback and an ace from Brewer forged an 8-8 tie. After a Roe kill put York back in front, Cameron tied the score with a kill. A kill from Keaney and an ace from Burrows made it 13-10 Clippers, but the Wildcats rallied to pull even at 13-13. After Keaney put Yarmouth back in front with a kill, she produced another and the lead was 18-14 as the home team and its partisan crowd began to sense victory. York hung tough and made it 18-17, but Cameron, in the play of the night, saved a ball that was going out of bounds and if that wasn’t enough, her return was perfectly placed and hit the floor for an inspirational point.

“A really great save or a great pass can make such a difference and turn the game,” said Brewer.

Rousseau followed with an ace and after Roe countered with a kill, Cameron had a kill and twice the Wildcats failed to return the ball, making it 23-18. After a York point, a Burrows kill set up match point. York stayed alive as the Clippers hit the next serve into the net, then Yarmouth couldn’t return the ball, but on the next point, the Clippers appeared to win it and a celebration began.

But it was interrupted, as the officials ruled the point be replayed.

“I think someone was in the net,” Quirk said. “They originally thought it was the other side, but it was our side and they called a re-do. I was fine with that.”

After Yarmouth twice hit the ball out, the Wildcats won the next point as well to tie the score, 24-24

York wasn’t able to complete the momentum-turning comeback, however, as the Clippers won the next point and on match point, the Wildcats hit the ball out and Yarmouth had a 26-24 victory and took the match in four grueling games, needing nearly two hours to do so.

“It’s so easy in a game like volleyball where there’s a point every single play to lose momentum, but when you get it back, it allows us to coast through a few points,” said Brewer. “Our energy, our bench were amazing. It was a mix of relief and exhilaration at the end because we were so excited. It was both fun and stressful. York’s a really good team and it’s fun to play against them because it’s always competitive. It was about energy and it was such a good feeling to be back in our home gym.

“(Winning on Senior Night) means so much. We have a large senior class. We’ve grown with the program. It’s rewarding how to see how well we’ve worked together and we’ve had so much fun together. We have some really amazing defenders that hustle so much. That and our aggressive offense.”

“I expected York would fight for every single point and they definitely did,” Quirk said. “We had to just focus on one point at a time and keeping our energy high. We find a correlation between energy being high and big swings. This group of seniors is really special to me. My first year in the Yarmouth volleyball world, they were freshmen. I’ve gotten to see them grow into the amazing young women and players they are. I’m so proud of them.”

Keaney finished with 15 kills and five blocks. Lushman had 12 service points and a dozen assists. Burrows tallied 12 service points and three blocks. Brewer contributed 11 assists and seven service points. Cameron finished with nine service points, including four aces, and also had seven kills. Beaudoin tallied nine service points, Rousseau finished with seven service points and Lentz had four kills and two blocks.

“(Yarmouth’s) hitters were on fire tonight,” Bradley said.

York was led by Parrotta, who had a game-high 17 assists. She also had nine service points. Zietala finished with nine service points, including three aces, Martin had nine service points and four kills, Chagnon had six service points and Roe posted seven kills.

The fun’s just beginning

York (which is ranked second in the Class B statewide Heal Points standings at press time) goes to Deering Saturday, then closes its regular season Monday at Gray-New Gloucester.

The Wildcats want another crack at the Clippers at the playoffs, where perhaps they can make history in the sweetest fashion.

“Hopefully we’ll see these guys again,” Bradley said. “We have a rivalry, but we’re all really good friends. We have great camaraderie. We want to just beat them once. I want to win, but this wasn’t the one we needed to win. Hopefully we’ll win our last two matches.

“We have some work to do. As long as we stay second or third going into playoffs, we’ll be in great shape. We’re missing one of our best players, (junior) Jill Holland, who we’ll hopefully have back. We’ve been battling hard all season to get where we are.”

Yarmouth, which is currently in the No. 4 spot in Class B, closes on the road against Cape Elizabeth Monday and hopes a win moves it up the standings another notch or two.

“Class B has a lot of great teams, but I feel like we have the skill,” Brewer said. “We just need to communicate and go for the ball. If we play like we did tonight, I think we can pull it out.”

“We need to make sure we’re playing our game on our side at all times and get other teams out of system,” Quirk said. “For us, it’s just building our confidence back. We know there are some tough matches ahead. We want to find our groove as a team and get our offense swinging hard and our defense keeping balls off the ground. We want to get more matches here at the high school.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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