On Saturday Oct 15, NECC Knights Volleyball defeated Mass Bay Community College in three straight sets in the second game of their tri-match and won both games of their doubleheader.

The Knights won the first two sets identical 25-16 and won the third set 25-17.

The Knights faced Mass Bay back in Newton on Oct. 6, when the Knights won three straight sets back in their place.

During the Knights warm up before the second game of their tri-match Ashly Martinez of Lawrence was down on the floor for several minutes and the trainer had to come and check on her but the good thing was she was ready to go in the beginning of the first set.

“She ended up getting a few muscle spasms so we had to wait for a few minutes so by the time the first set was about to start she was able to play so we were able to put her on the set,” said assistant head coach Marissa Reardon.

The game officially started at 3:48 pm.

The Knights started the game on a 5-1 run over Mass Bay a nice serve by Heather Walsh of Harwich that the ball just snuck in to made it 7-3.

I asked Reardon about the run that the Knights had “Yes, that we did that was definitely helpful to our outside hitter for helping out she (Kaithlene Perez-Flores) has a great serve so that’s definitely work,” said Reardon.

The Knights were up 12-5, they were up by seven when Mass Bay decided to call a timeout.

The Knights increased their lead by 10, they were up 19 to 9.

The score was 20-13 in favor of the Knights when the Knights were out of rotation.

The Knights had three total out of rotation during the game against Mass Bay.

Kaithlene Perez-Flores of Lowell made it 24-16, it was a set point for the Knights as Mass Bay hit the ball out and the Knights won set one 25-16 to Mass Bay.

In the second set the Knights were down early the Knights were looking to rally against Mass Bay. The Knights did just that, the Knights didn’t just tie they took the lead.

The Knights increased their lead to five when Perez-Flores was serving. It was 15-10 with three points that she scored made it 18-10 as they were up by eight.

A spike by Caroline Burns of Haverhill made it 21-11 in favor of the Knights.

Burns gave the finishing touches in set two, she tapped the ball with her two hands up. The ball went in as the Knights took care of business in the first two sets and had a commanding two sets to none lead.

In the third set the Knights hadn’t got a lead early in the match until they tied the game at 9 and took a 11 to 9 lead over Mass Bay.

Mass Bay went on a run against the Knights.

I asked Reardon about the slow start the Knights had in the third set.

“ I think our stamina was there in the first two sets and I think it declined a little bit in the beginning of the third (set) but I was very grateful they were able to pick it up at the end of the third set to win the game,” said Reardon.

The Knights were looking to rally after the time out and they did just that. They tied  the game at 17.  

The Knights took the lead as Perez-Flores passed it over to Martinez for a spike to make it 18 to 17.

The Knights went on a run late in the third set to defeat Mass Bay three set to none. 25-17 was your final for set three.

I ask Ashley Dominguez of Lawrence how is it fell having two wins in one game ?

“It feels amazing to see our team has grown and we have a connection know we played better know it’s just amazing the feeling is great,” she said.

On Saturday Oct. 15, NECC Knights defeated the Bulldogs three sets to two In the first game of a tri-match against Bunker Hill Community College.

The Knights lost the first set 25-18, the Knights won the second set 27-25, the Knights lost the third set 25-17, the Knights won the fourth set 25-21 and the Knights won the decisive set five 15-9.

The last time the Knights faced the Bulldogs prior to this matchup was in Sept. 29. That didn’t go well for the Knights way back in Charlestown as they were knocked around in three straight set.

“We find a few different focuses for the game and I feel like getting some different ones definitely work so I think definitely that helped them win,” said Assistant head coach Marissa Reardon.

The game officially started at 11:03 a.m.

The Knights was down 3-1 to start this contest but they tied the game at three.

A good save by Caroline Burns  of Haverhill  for the Knights prevented the Bulldogs from scoring.

A good spike by Burns put this game 8-5 in favor of the Knights. The Bulldogs rotation was wrong to put this game 9-6 in favor of the Knights.

The Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run against the Knights before the Knights finally could attack a run.

The Knights were down by nine 23-14 when the Knights called a timeout.

After the timeout the Knights settled in a little, the Knights scored two more and the Bulldogs one more to make this game 24-16 and a spike by Burns made this game 24-17 but it wasn’t enough as the Knights lost the first set 25-18.

“Definitely after the first set we were definitely pushing the girls we did try a different rotation and again rotations are hit and miss on how it i going to go in. Certain rotation work and certain parts of the rotation don’t work,” said Reardon.

In the second set Bulldogs were on a 4-0 run before Burns spike made it 4-1. The Knights scored the next two points to make it 4-3 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Knights eventually tied the game at seven but couldn’t take the lead.

Kaithlene Perez-Flores of Lowell spike tied the game at eight.

The Bulldogs went on a run against the Knights. The Knights were down by four when they came back to tie the game at 13.

The Knights were s down by five, they were losing 20 to 5 when coach Reardon called a timeout.

After the time out the Knights settled in and make this game close. Perez-Flores was serving and made two straight points.

The Knights were up 25-24 and needed one more point to win, but instead the Bulldogs tied it at 25.

The Knights made the next two and won the second set 27-25.

In the third set the Knights were down three to one when they tied the game and took the lead 4-3. The Knights were up 5-3 when Bunker Hill scored three straight point to make it 6 to 5. The Knights eventually tied the game.

It was a good game early in the third set back and forth battle. The Knights were down by four 17-13 when coach Reardon called a timeout.

The Bulldog went on a run to increase the lead over the Knights.

The Bulldogs won set three over the Knights 25-17.

In set four the Knights were down early but they came back to tie the game at 7.

The Knights made it 10-7.

The Knights were up 16-12 when the Bulldogs’ miscommunicated as the ball landed between them.

The Knights called a time out when they were winning by three, six points away from winning the set.

The Bulldogs came back and made it a one point game as they took the lead 20-19.

The Knights tied the game at 21 as the ball was in.

Burns took the lead as they were up 22-21 with a spike.

I had a chance to talk to Burns after the game and talk to her about her performance.

“I think I just really want them to beat them since they beat us last time. So I tried to put my A game and get excited. It’s hard to get excited early in the morning but we all kinda hyped each other up and it’s also nice that your teammates are comforting and cheering you on,” said Burns.

Burns also said that they were working on stamina, to communicate better and work together as a team as a whole.

The Knights late in the game went on a 7-2 run to finish the set as they won 25-21 and forced a decisive set five.

In the decisive set five you need to win by 15 points to win the set.

In the beginning of the fifth set it was a good battle, back and forth game before the Knights increased their lead by three as they were up 8 to 5 and both teams switch sides.

The Knights were up 12 to 8 when the Bulldog coach called a timeout.

The Knights went on to win the decisive game five 15 to 9.

On Friday Oct. 14, Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI Knights) defeated NECC Knights 3 to 1 to snap the soccer Knights  four game winning streak.

Knights had a four game winning streak coming into Oct. 14 contest in the Haverhill campus.

It was a return of Coach First Name Marote who had missed a few games because he was sick.

“Yeah, you know it was definitely hard. I was actually watching sideline from a far in my vehicle keeping eye on my team and you know our assistant coach did very well the last two matches pick up a couple win,” said Marote.“ So that’s always a great thing, you know our coaching staff here we believe everyone who is part of it from me to my assistant coaches and my goalkeeper coach. So it was good I am happy to be back, a nice beautiful day big game in conference today, it can factor a lot of things for us if we win today.”

The game was supposed to start at 3:30 but the CCRI Knights did not arrive until 3:50, 20 minutes after the start time.

The game officially started at 4:04.

In the fifth minutes of the game Sam De Amorim of Methuen almost scored as he kicked it directly to the goaltender.

In the 20th minute of the game Fadi Serhan of Middleton missed an opportunity that would’ve put up the Knights 1-0, but instead he over kicked as the Knights missed that opportunity to take the lead.

In the twenty minutes Juan Barrios of Pawtucket, R.I. scored the first goal of the game an assist of his brother Roy Barrios of Pawtucket, R.I.

In the 25^th minute of the game the referee gave Cam’ron Aldana of Providence, R.I., a yellow card.

The Knights had few opportunities in the first half but couldn’t cash in as they missed a few opportunities.

In the first half the NECC Knights had eight shots on goal and CCRI had five. Both teams had at least one corner kick in the first half. CCRI Knights had six fouls while NECC Knights had four. The NECC Knights had two offside while CCRI Knights had one. NECC Knights had eight saves while CCRI Knights had four.

In the second half in the 74 minutes Wilson Penafiel of Providence, R.I. scored on an assist from Juan Barrios.

In the 81 minutes Penafiel scored the second goal of the ball game in an assist fromf Aaron Ramos of Warwick.

One minute later, Casey Darcey of Warwick, R.I., was issued a yellow card.

In the second half CCRI Knights had seven shots on goal while the NECC Knights had four. CCRI Knights had four corner kick while NECC Knights had two. NECC Knights had seven fouls while CCRI Knights had one. NECC Knights had five saves and CCRI had four.