HANOVER — The Hanover High Bears volleyball team exercised the playoff demons of last season and prevailed in their NHIAA Division II first-round matchup at home against the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints on Thursday, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-17).
Last season, the Bears entered the playoffs as the sixth seed and were upset 3-1 by the 11th-seeded Laconia at home.
Head Coach Hunter Gosselin acknowledged the loss had added to the pressure to advance this season.
This season, fifth-seeded Hanover saw solid offensive performances from senior captains Claire Starosta and Ellie Molina, who each had four aces and four kills, to help pick up the win.
Junior Bella Poisson, who had six kills, and senior Hudson Cusimano, who had five kills, were also big offensively for the Bears.
“I think they just wanted to have progress over last season, and so I am really proud they were able to execute tonight despite the nerves that they were feeling,” Gosselin said.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair early, and with the score tied 6-6, Gosselin decided to call a timeout. The Bears came out of that timeout and behind some nice play in front of the net from Poisson and Cusimano took a 10-6 lead.
The Bears never relinquished their lead after the post-timeout scoring flurry and took over a 1-0 match lead.
With one win in their back pocket, the Bears came out firing in the second set, roaring out to an early 10-2 lead. But the Saints did not go down without swinging; they fought back to get within one point, and it was 19-18 in Hanover’s favor late.
The two squads traded points until the set was 21-19 Bears, and then Hanover shut the door on St. Thomas, taking the following four points to lock down the 25-19 win.
Down 2-0 with their backs against the wall, the Saints started to pick up some momentum. They flew out to a 5-0 lead to begin the third set.
But the Bears stayed steady and went on to tie the set at 6-6, then took a lead and finished the job to seal the straight-set match victory, with a 25-17 win.
Gosselin credited her captains for the team’s ability to shake off the tough start in the third set and close out the match.
“I have some great co-captains, they’re my leaders out there,” Gosselin said. “I think that their just sort of nonchalant attitudes of let’s just get in there and take care of business really helped guide the team tonight.”
This season, the Bears have held their own in a stacked division, finishing with a 13-2 regular-season record. In its 13 regular-season wins, 10 of them were in straight sets.
“We have been blessed, I think, to have this season that we’ve had in terms of scheduling, but we do want to try to make a name for ourselves that we can also hang with the top teams,” Gosselin said.
Hanover will have the chance to prove it can hang with D-II’s best as they travel to fourth-seeded Milford on Saturday for a quarterfinal bout.
Milford, the D-II runner-up from last season, handed the Bears their second loss of the regular season, 3-2, on Oct. 8.
“Our goal from day one has been team culture, and they have put in so much work to maintain that throughout the season,” Gosselin said. “And that’s still the top priority into playoffs, just playing for each other every single point.”
