RallyNorth.net

Salem pulls through, eyes 7th title

Thursday, June, 09 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

NASHUA — There is a fine line between confidence and overconfidence and standout senior Joe Gallant doesn’t believe the Salem boys volleyball team will cross it tomorrow in the New Hampshire championship match against Londonderry.
The six-time defending champion Blue Devils may have crossed it briefly yesterday, when they played poorly in the third game and fell 25-17 to Pinkerton. But they recovered for a 25-15 romp in the fourth game for a 3-1 victory.
The No. 1-seed Devils (15-1) will now play here in tomorrow’s 6 p.m. championship against Londonderry (14-3), which swept Timberlane 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 in the other semifinal.
“I don’t know if we were overconfident (in the third game) but we might have been too relaxed,” said Gallant. “I know we were overconfident against Timberlane (when it broke Salem’s 125-match win streak two weeks ago) and we can’t let that happen again.
“We know Londonderry is good and we’ll have to look out for (Londonderry standout) Matt Hersey, but we’ll be all right if we  play our game. We didn’t play our game against Timberlane.”
Salem was on its game at the start last night, recording the first six points of the night with Joe Dube serving and, paced by the net play of sophomore Eric Denning and Cory Forrest (12 kills on the night), cruised to a 25-19 victory.
“Eric is our energy guy and can really get us going,” said Salem coach Scott Wright. “He and Steve Nugent, another sophomore, have really come on recently.”
Nugent had a strong second game, with help from Gallant (12 kills in the match), and Salem rolled again, 25-19.
After the Astros rallied in the third game, Gallant took over with five kills in Salem’s clincher.
“It’d be awesome to go out with another state title,” said Gallant. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Wright knows it won’t be easy.
“I’m expecting a tough time of it,” said the first-year head coach. “They’re an aggressive team and we can’t be lackadaisical like I think we were a little in the third game.”
For Pinkerton (11-7), Justin Scott led a balanced attack with six kills.
“We played all right, but Salem’s serving kept us off balance,” said Pinkerton coach Colin Walker.
Lancers gear for challenge
Although Londonderry lost to Salem twice during the regular season, Lancers’ star Matt Hersey is more than excited to make the third time the charm.
“I can’t wait to play them again,” said Hersey. “We’re a different team now. We’ve really come together the last few weeks and new guys like Mike Galluzzo have really stepped up.
“Beating Salem would be the best way to end my career.”
Hersey, a first team all-state player, was immense throughout yesterday’s match, but particularly in the toughest last game, which saw seven lead changes and required a late 6-3 Londonderry spurt in order to prevail, 25-23.
Londonderry won the first two games 25-20 and 25-19 with Hersey’s serving shifting the momentum back to the Lancers for good late in the second game.
Timberlane (13-4), which ended Salem’s 125-match winning streak two weeks ago, was led by the net play of Max LaRoche (eight kills) and the all-around performance of senior Conor Dube. But the Owls just couldn’t sustain a run throughout the match.
“To win a big match, we need to be consistent, be energetic and get good passing,” said Timberlane coach John Dube. “When we get away from those things, like we did at times tonight, we have problems.
“We didn’t have the consistency we needed at other times, either. But overall, with the little experience some of my kids have, I think we had a tremendous season.”