Simsbury Eliminates Conard in Semifinals of CCC Volleyball Tournament
No. 3 seed Simsbusry defeated No. 2 seed Conard in West Hartford on Thursday.
By Paul Palmer
In a thrilling three-set match, Simsbury eliminated Conard in the semifinals of the CCC boys volleyball tournament 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. The Trojans had been beaten 3-0 by Conard in a matchup during the regular season.
The two sides kept it close throughout most of the first game. Sophomore Tristan McClay won back serve for the Red Wolves on back-to-back points at 7-6 and 8-7. Rafael Ortiz took the Red Wolves to 11-9 with his service later in the set. McClay also had a big block on Simsbury’s Cyrus Nash’s attempt at a kill at 16-14.
The net play of Nash, Muna Nwafor, and Adyn Cohen helped tip the balance in Simsbury’s favor at key moments throughout the three sets. Cohen had a kill and a block on consecutive points to tie the set at 17, another block to make it a 19-17 lead, and 20-17 on his serve. Adam Vincent ended the set with kill.
Nash took Simsbury from a 3-all time to a 7-3 lead on his serve before Conard called a timeout in the opening minutes of the second set. Conard fought back to tie things at 11 on a point from Dominic Belyaev and took it to a 12-11 lead before Simsbury got the side out. The two sides went back-and-forth with no one able to build a lead of more than two points.
Conard then pushed it to 21-17 behind the service of Ortiz. Simsbury ran off four points, the last an ace by Nwafor to make it 24-23. With Conard serving at the same score, Cohen had the put away from the visitors as they won set number two, 25-23.
Simsbury opened the third set by serving to a 3-0 lead, before Conard responded with three points of their own to tie it. It was Julian Hartland’s pass to McClay for a 6-6 tie that lit a spark on the Conard side.
The Trojans worked the game to a 13-9 lead, before Conard narrowed it to a one-point game. Conard could not hold their serve on four of their next five attempts, and Nash ended it with a big, left-handed spike that landed just inside the baseline to put away the set and the match for Simsbury.
The closeness of the scores reflected the all-out efforts from both teams. At one point in the third set McClay dove into the bleachers to keep the ball alive for Conard. Liberio Jayden Flores was also a top contributor for the Red Wolves, handling most of the serves from Simsbury and also digging out several low balls before they hit the floor.
Conard’s 13-3 regular season record was fourth-best in Class L and the Red Wolves will most likely host their first-round game of the opening round of the CIAC Tournament which begins on Wednesday.
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