Word from the Woods Sept. 23-29

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Volleyball

The Woodland spikers are still perfect following a pair of sweeps over Holy Cross and Watertown. Last Wednesday against the Crusaders, it was an all-around solid performance by the Hawks, from intimidating net play to impressive digging to strong passing, allowing no game to come closer than an eight-point margin of victory—25-17, 25-11, 25-17. Senior Kaiti Lembo led with way with eight kills, while junior Jess Patrizi tallied 12 assists, two kills, and four digs, senior Desiree Duby racked up two kills, seven assists, three aces, and 20 points, and senior Emily Hutvagner made five kills. Little was different in Friday’s 25-12, 25-23, 25-16 victory over the Indians in pushing the Black and Gold to 5-0 on the year. The Hawks received contributions from everywhere on the floor including Patrizi (20 assists, three kills, two aces, four points), Lembo (four kills, five aces, 17 points), Badale (seven kills, two assists, two digs), senior Erika Barnett (three blocks, eight kills, two digs), and senior Kate Frenette (14 points, two aces, five digs). “We still have work to do and need to keep improving,” head coach Jim Amato said. “But we’re playing together right now. They transition well from offense to defense and each one of them knows their role. Our service game is vitally important to our success. We’ve been working on it and will continue to work on it.” The Hawks hit the court four times in the next eight days.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving

The Hawks suffered their first defeat of the young season last Friday in their home pool to perennial-powerhouse Torrington, 103-81. Woodland captured six races on the day, but it was not enough to overcome the depth of the Red Raiders. The sophomore sensation Katie-Jean Hinckley continued her dominance in the water, taking part in four of her team’s six wins. She won both the 200 freestyle (2 min., 6.48 sec.) and the 500 free (5:35.33, the third time she has set the school record), and also helped win the 200 free relay with senior Jill Pagoni, freshman Sydney Corneau, and freshman Chrissy Leeper (1:50.29) and the 400 free relay with Corneau, senior Alyssa Maggiore, and sophomore Emily Soulier (4:28.91). The loss dropped the Hawks to 2-1, but the Black and Gold has the chance to redeem  itself with meets Friday at Watertown and Tuesday at Sheehan.