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North Reading charges back; state semifinals next

Saturday, November, 08 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

ANDOVER — North Reading’s volleyball team had a wakeup call yesterday afternoon, but the alarm delivered the proper message.
The defending Division 3 state champion and No. 1-seed Hornets dropped the first game to Notre Dame Academy of Tyngsboro, 25-21 in the North finals at Andover High School, before charging back  to win three straight, 25-15, 25-15, 25-21.
North Reading (22-1) advances to the state semifinals Thursday at Lincoln-Sudbury at 7 p.m. against the West winner, which very well could be Frontier. North Reading beat Frontier in the state finals last year after losing to it the previous two years.
“It seems like the season is not complete unless we play them (Frontier),” said North Reading coach Keri Forrest.
That hardly seemed like a certainty in the first game, during which the Hornets made a number of unforced errors. But Forrest and two-year Cape Anne League MVP Alison Friberg were not overly concerned.
“It (first-game loss) made us realize that anything can happen, that we’d better start playing better,” said Friberg. “But I wasn’t that nervous about it because we weren’t settled in and I knew we could play better. If we had played well and lost, then I would have been worried.”
Forrest felt the same way.
“I said to my assistant coach that I really wasn’t worried,” said Forrest.
The turning point came early in the second game with the game tied, 5-5. Sophomore Kirsten Morrison served six straight points to put the Hornets in front for good. Except for a couple of letdowns in the fourth game, North Reading was in control the rest of the way.
Playing like a young Stephanie Mayne, who is now a sophomore at UMass Amherst, Morrison led the Hornets in kills with 12 and aces with six while finishing with 16 service points.
“As a freshman, she (Morrison) was good, but she has really come alive,” said Friberg.
But Morrison had plenty of help at the net. Elizabeth Sutera checked in with 11 kills and Katherine Mazzone added eight kills and led in blocks with 15.
At one point, in the third game, Taylor Dyer (team-high 21 digs), Morrison, Sutera and Mazzone took turns getting  points with kills.
“Too many weapons,” said Forrest. “I keep telling them to mix it up and Alison does a great job setting them all up. She’s our quarterback and when she’s setting up different people, and we’re on a roll, we’re tough to beat.”