After all that success, the seniors would surely go out with a victory on Senior Night. Wouldn't they?
Well, visiting Tolland had other ideas Monday evening. The Eagles jumped out to a 2-1 lead and were one game away from spoiling the festivities. But, Rocky Hill pulled away down the stretch in game four and easily won game five to make sure the home fans left happy. Game scores were 20-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18, 15-8.
Senior Joanna Sajdlowska had two important blocks for points to help the Terriers gain and keep momentum late in game four. The Terriers scored six of the final eight points to knot the match at two games apiece. Sajdlowska had five blocks total to go along with nine kills and four digs.
"We had some outstanding front-court play by Joanna Sajdlowska," Rocky Hill coach George McKinnon said. "She just turned the fourth game around for us. She had a couple key blocks that were awesome. She's a senior captain who's been playing well and she had her biggest game of the year."
Up 5-4 in the fifth game, Rocky Hill ran off six straight points, five on Kyley Reed's serve, to take control. Reed also delivered the match-clinching kill, one of her match-high 27. The sophomore, who had 20 digs as well, said she was determined to help deliver a win for the seniors.
"You can't lose on Senior Night so I wanted to win for them so bad," Reed said. "It was such a good game. This is a team we had a tough match against last time but we pulled through. I was just so pumped up to win."
Initially, that extra excitement appeared to lead to some nerves. The Terriers started off slow, falling behind 17-6 in game one. They rallied to pull within two at 19-17, but the Eagles held on to win.
Rocky Hill took a nip-and-tuck game two, the final point coming on a block from Sajdlowska had five blocks total to go along with nine kills and four digs. Fellow senior Danielle Gander had 23 assists.
"We work on a lot of blocks and hitting in practice and it's definitely paid off," Sajdlowska said.
In game three, Tolland once again built a big lead. But, up 10-3, Rocky Hill once again rallied, tying the score at 13-13. The Eagles quickly regained momentum, however, scoring the next six points, and were never threatened after that.
In final two games, Rocky Hill finally started to get in a consistent groove.
"We were fighting from behind throughout the whole match," McKinnon said. "I told them that we're a better team than that. We need to work hard, get to every ball on that court, play as hard as you can because I know we're a good team. They just kept building. I said go one point at a time and get one game at a time."
Rocky Hill's seniors were honored in a ceremony before the game. The group included tri-captains Sajdlowska, Brianna Marshall and Caitlin Lurate along with Gander, Becky Fields, Manuela Silvestre, Meghan DeMatta, Nicole Fresta, Emily Laing and team manager Anisah Akand.
Prior to the Tolland game, Rocky Hill defeated Fermi 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21) behind strong performances from Reed (18 kills, 25 digs, 16 service points, three blocks), Julie Stoneburner (12 assists, nine digs) and Megan Ruonavaara (five kills, seven digs).