Canton spikers to play in first NCCC Tournament; Avon loses to Bristol Eastern

Senior Amber Harraden is Canton’s leading hitter with 96 kills. She also has 52 aces and 47 blocks on the season. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

CANTON, Nov. 2 – For the first time, the Canton High girls volleyball team will be playing in the NCCC Tournament on Friday. The Warriors clinched their first-ever winning season in the regular season finale with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Bolton on Friday.

It was the first-ever win for Canton over the Bulldogs with a 30-28, 25-23, 12-25, 26-24 decision on Senior Night.

For the first time, all eight teams are participating in the league tournament. Canton (11-9, 5-9 NCCC) has earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 SMSA (6-14, 5-9) on Friday night. The tournament semifinals will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Coventry with the league championship match following at 6 p.m.

Canton won three of their final four matches to finish with a winning record for the first time in the five-year history of the program. Against Bolton, junior Katie Mankowski led the Warriors with seven kills and four blocks. Senior Amber Harraden had five kills, two aces and four blocks. Harraden and Mankowski had 12 of the team’s 16 kills.

Rachel Falzone and Harraden had six digs each for the Warriors while junior Erin Coleman had 15 assists for Canton.

Canton split their two matches with SMSA this season, dropping a 3-1 decision in late September (25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20) and beating the Tigers on October 21 by a 3-0 score (25-19, 25-21, 25-23).

NCCC Tournament
Friday’s quarterfinals
No. 8 Classical (0-14) at No. 1 Coventry (13-1)
No. 5 SMSA (5-9) at No. 4 Canton (5-9)
No. 6 Ellington (5-9) at No. 3 Suffield (10-4)
No. 7 Bolton (5-9) at No. 2 Granby (13-1)
Saturday’s semifinals
At Coventry
Semifinals, 4 p.m.
Championship match, 6 p.m.

NCCC Volleyball 2016
                                   NCCC           Overall
y-Coventry                  13-1             19-1
y-Granby                     13-1             16-4
Suffield                        10-4             13-6
Canton                          5-9             11-9
Bolton                            5-9             10-9
Ellington                        5-9              7-12
SMSA                            5-9             6-14
Hartford Classical        0-14             0-20
y-shared league championship

CCC Tournament
Bristol Eastern 3, Avon 2
AVON, Nov. 1 – Mikayla Marth had a team-high 21 kills and four aces to help Bristol Eastern beat Avon, 3-2 in a five-set thriller in the first round of the CCC Tournament on Tuesday night (19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-25, 15-13).

The Falcons were led by junior Maddy Hart with a game-high 22 kills and a team-leading 20 digs. Avon junior Audrey Worth had a team-high 36 assists along with five aces serving and three blocks. Erin Sutter had four blocks to lead the Falcons, now 15-6. Junior Sofia Berrio had seven kills and three blocks for the Falcons.

Avon (15-6) will return to the court next week in the Class L tournament.

CCC First Round
Northwest Catholic 3, E.O. Smith 1 (8-25, 25-11, 25-10, 25-11)
RHAM 3, Hall 0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-7)
Farmington 3, Middletown 0 (25-6, 25-8, 25-9)
Bristol Eastern 3, Avon 2 (19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-25, 15-13)
Glastonbury 3, Simsbury 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-19)
Plainville 3, East Catholic 1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
Southington 3, Rocky Hill 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-12)
Tolland 3, Platt High 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-21)

Wednesday’s quarterfinals
Bristol Eastern at Farmington
Tolland at Southington
NW Catholic at RHAM
Glastonbury at Plainville
Friday’s semifinals
At Avon
4, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s championship
At Avon
6 p.m.