Girls volleyball

Kiley Finglas' 24 kills, powers Undefeated Westport past Bishop Connolly, twice

Wildcats win 3-2 and 3-1 in away and home series

Story and photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Posted 4/17/21

Undefeated Westport beat pesky Bishop Connolly twice last week to boost their record to 8-0 in the Mayflower Athletic Conference. The Wildcats came back to win a five setter, 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, …

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Girls volleyball

Kiley Finglas' 24 kills, powers Undefeated Westport past Bishop Connolly, twice

Wildcats win 3-2 and 3-1 in away and home series

Posted

Undefeated Westport beat pesky Bishop Connolly twice last week to boost their record to 8-0 in the Mayflower Athletic Conference. The Wildcats came back to win a five setter, 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-9, 15-12), at Bishop Connolly on Wednesday, and staved off a Connolly comeback, with a 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22), home win on Friday afternoon.

Several Wildcats hitters posted big numbers during the series. Sophomore Kyleigh Finglas led the team offensively bashing 30 service points, 24 kills and 11 aces. Sophia Terra tallied 18 kills, 5 service points and 2 aces. Paige Churchill had 16 service points, 5 aces and 11 digs. Wildcats setter, Abby Gaudreau, recorded 54 assists, 23 service points, 12 aces and 3 kills. 

“Kyleigh has a couple of double digit kill matches,” said head coach Mike King. “Sophia has really come on the past three matches and has had big numbers from the middle spot.” 

Setter, Abby Gaudreau runs the offense for the Wildcats. 

“Abby has done a super job,” Coach King said. “She’s had big numbers for assists.”

Eighth grader, Zoey Sylvain also has been playing well for the Wildcats. 

“Zoey has really improved her hitting and is a smart player,” said Coach King.

Wildcats on D

Junior Paige Churchill, the Wildcat’s libero, is the team’s defensive leader. 

“She’s in charge of moving the back row players to the spots she feels need the extra coverage,” Coach King said. 

“Jenna Carreiro has been a very consistent defensive player as well as Braylin Montigny,” said Coach King.  

Sophia Terra and Madison Benson help defensively, with their play at the net. “They might not have a huge numbers of blocks per game, but their presence alone alters a significant number of hits coming from the opposition,” Coach King said. 

“This is an amazing group of girls,” said Coach King. “They love to play volleyball and love working together.” 

This group of Wildcats have played together for five years. 

“It’s their time to shine. This is what they’ve worked so hard for,” said Coach King. “They want to win, they want to get better.” 

“The upperclassmen welcome new players with open arms and are always there to help when needed. They make my job very easy. Without them, we aren’t where we’re at,” Coach King said.  

Wednesday at Bishop Connolly 

“They sure did give us a match, but we were expecting it,” said Wildcats head coach Mike King after Wednesday’s five setter. 

The Wildcats came from behind to narrowly win the first game, 25-23. But dropped games 2 and 3 as Bishop Connolly continued to take big leads and hold off the Wildcats charge. 

“Set 4 was the big turnaround,” said Coach King. “The girls were able to get back to themselves.” 

Coach King didn’t say a word as the team huddled together after game 3.

“Paige Churchill really got them fired up,” Coach King said. “Her energy before the fourth was unbelievable and she passed that on to her teammates. Sometimes the best thing to do as a coach is kinda let the players take that ownership.”

After the Churchill pep talk, the team came out and played well, taking game 4, 25-9, and edging Bishop Connolly in the tie breaker, 15-12.

“It was a collective team effort in the tie breaker,” said Coach King. “Our team motto is ‘One Team.’ I try to stress to them that the six individuals on the court need to be one cohesive group,” Coach King said. 

“When they play like that, for each other, they’re impressive to watch,” said Coach King.

 

 

 

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.