Tournament roundup

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By Staff Reports

Woodland’s Kalle Legassey (24) celebrates with her teammates during their 3-0 win over Naugatuck in a NVL tournament semifinal game Nov. 1 at Kennedy High School. -JIM SHANNON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Woodland knocked off Naugatuck on Nov. 1 in the Naugatuck Valley League volleyball semifinals.

The third-seeded Hawks topped No. 2 Naugatuck, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-18), to advance to the final on Nov. 3, when they’ll face No. 1 Seymour. The final is 7 p.m. at Kennedy High in Waterbury.

“We had great play by (libero) Rory Nolan. She did a little bit everywhere,” Woodland coach Jim Amato. “Our serve-receive was great with Kalle, Amber (Rosato) and Chelsea (Donovan). They were all like that, just on their ‘A’ game when it came to passing. Kylie distributed the ball where we needed it to get to, and Maille and Ally finished up in the center. Our outsides (Kalle and Amber) were just making great choices as outside hitters and keeping that ball in play.”

Kylie Bulinski had six kills, two aces, 15 assists and one block for the Hawks (17-5), who lost to Naugatuck (18-4), 3-0, in September. Maille Ianniruberto added nine kills and three blocks. Kalle Legassey had eight kills and nine digs while Ally Lisowski added three kills and three blocks.

Kendall Allen had 12 kills and 13 digs, Kaylee Jackson added 10 kills and Nadia Cestari chipped in 19 assists for Naugatuck.

Naugatuck’s Kaylee Jackson (12) goes up for a spike during a NVL tournament semifinal game against Woodland on Nov. 1 at Kennedy High School. -JIM SHANNON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

“Naugatuck is a very good team, solid team,” Amato said. “They’re going to do well in states going forward, and a testament to them is it’s very hard to find a spot on the floor to hit the ball to. They’re all over, they’re a very defensive-minded team, and that’s why they can run such a good offense. We had to match that as much as we could.”

Seymour beat No. 5 Kennedy (14-6), 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-16), to advance to the final. The Wildcats beat the Hawks twice in the regular season by scores of 3-1.

The NVL boys and girls soccer tournaments kicked of Nov. 1.

Woodland and Naugatuck advanced to the semifinals of the boys tournament.

No. 2 Woodland (14-0-3) beat No. 7 Torrington (9-8-0), 1-0, on a goal from Aldin Jahja. D.J. Mulligan made three saves for the Hawks. Woodland will face No. 3 Watertown Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at Torrington High in the first semifinal.

Woodland’s Preston Alessio (4) clears the ball in front of Torrington’s Aydan Reilly (3) during a NVL tournament quarterfinal game Nov. 1 at Woodland Regional High School. -JIM SHANNON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

No. 4 Naugatuck (10-5-2) beat Oxford (9-3-4), 2-1, with goals from Vinny Dos Santos and Simon Diaz. Dan Anderson made eight saves for Naugatuck. The Greyhounds will face top-seeded Holy Cross (15-0-2) Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Torrington High in the second semifinal.

The top-seeded Woodland girls opened the tourney with a 5-0 win over Ansonia. Sara Alessio scored three goals and Michaella Gasparri had two for the Hawks (14-0-3). Isa Mejias and Casey Mulligan combined to make two saves in goal. Woodland will play No. 4 St. Paul (10-6-0) Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury in the second girls’ semifinal.

St. Paul defeated No. 5 Naugatuck (7-8-2), 2-0, in the quarterfinals. Saige Winslow made seven saves for Naugatuck.