Somers Makes Easy Work of Carmel with Sweep
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On Tuesday October 21, Somers hosted Croton Harmon and the tone was quickly set. Claire Cronin began with a kill, added two more early knocks and Somers didn’t come down on the opening heels of their big hitter.
“It’s crazy how she flies,” said Kathryn Moesta, and an 8-1 lead paved the way for a three game sweep.
Of course, four aces by Katie Kourakos didn’t hurt either and neither did a block and three kills from Maegan Brown. A 12-2 lead, Kourakos obviously did her part as setter, but she’s not above serving notice herself. “She loves her hits,” joked Moesta and three of her lefty kills made it 19-6.
She also dropped a slow moving ace for game point, and Ella Barron used her primary natural asset to kill the game from the center. “I like hitting from the middle, because I’m tall and can get over the block,” said the front line player.
25-12, the teams switched sides, and Croton did take a 1-0 lead. But the illusion faded quickly. Undeterred by a block, Cronin’s saving dig at the net setup Moesta in the center. There, the junior knocked it down and took stock in the opportunity. “I got to have my first real playing time,” said Moesta in the absence of Abby Babboni.
Good for a 2-1 lead, the lead grew to 4-1 on a kill by Kourakos and an ace by Shari Marrero. Still, Croton came to play, and they really put the Tuskers to the test on the next point. After Brown had a kill knocked back, Olivia Tran stood tall on the return, and on the way back, the libero had to make a one handed save in the back corner.
Enough was enough, though and Kourakos bumped a set to Brown, and she got the kill. A Marrero ace made it 6-1 and adding two Brown kills to another Kourakos slam extended to 11-4.
Not done dominating, Barron’s kill at 12-5 again didn’t have the Tuskers missing their big elephant in the middle. Barron added another to make it 17-9, and the transposing wasn’t done. Khloe Kishart made a perfect short set to Kourakos, and the junior’s lightning fast slam didn’t give Croton a chance.
Now 19-10, Somers could play softball too. Cronin and Kourakos both dropped dinks, and at 23-12, Moesta made the most of the opportunity again with a stern turn back. “Today, she really showed - especially in her blocks,” said Olivia Tran
Somers took the next point, and it was one more set to go. But kills by Cronin and Brown couldn’t keep Croton from taking an early 8-3 lead.
Timeout for Somers, Alivia Donaldson’s block on an errant Croton bump began the way back. So did Kourakos’ bread and butter. Finding the back corner on a push, the execution had Moesta signing on the dotted line. “That’s her signature move,” said Moesta, and 9-6 was soon 10-10.
The setter then went back to job one. Her perfect set put Cronin on a tee, and the Tusker hitter took out the big dog to give Somers an 11-10 lead.
In front for good, Tran rubbed it in by playing big from the back. The second ball popped to the libero and she hit her second kill from the back. “When your players trust you like that, it’s so great,” she said. “Then it so great when you get the kill.”
The two point lead doubled on a second ball dink by Kourakos, and moments later, she aced Somers to an 18-11 lead.
Three straight got Croton back into the game, but a pair of unforced errors did the visitors no help. Diving digs by Tran and Kourakos didn’t either, and up for grabs, Svea Almquist’s right side kill brought the grit full circle.
20-15, the teams traded points until Kourakos was a push again. She found open space for a 23-17 lead, and after Katie Coughlin aced, Croton let the last ball fall harmlessly for the Somers victory.
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