Like so many other Section III programs, large and small, the Bishop Ludden girls volleyball team moved from a winter to fall schedule in part because it wanted a chance at the biggest possible prize – a state championship.
Thanks to a tense five-set win over Bishop Grimes on Nov. 5 in the sectional Class D final, the Gaelic Knights earned its first-ever trip to the state tournament. Eight days later, at Oneonta State College, Ludden triumphed again, sweeping Section IV champion Candor in the regional finals.
Right from the start, the Gaelic Knights exhibited control, beating the Indians 25-18 in the first set and then dominating the second set 25-12. Then, up 12-5 in the third, Ludden withstood Candor’s 7-1 run and dominated the rest of the way, prevailing 25-15 to close out the match.
Bridget Brogan led the way with a fine all-around effort that included 15 digs and six kills. Aurora Deshaies got a team-best eight kills, adding four blocks and two aces. Nicole Noreault also had four blocks and two aces, plus two kills.
On the back line, Natalie Fagan, with 11 assists, and Kari Plumridge, with nine assists, shared duties, each of them getting three digs as Fagan notched a pair of aces. Meanwhile, Meghan Wilkinson’s superb defensive effort continued as she got 19 digs, helped by Emma Catalano (six digs) and Lundy Toia (five digs).
Beating Candor meant that Ludden was headed for the state final four, held last weekend at Glens Falls Civic Center. They were joined by Panama, Argyle and Tuxedo, the four teams battling in a round-robin, six-set format to determine which two teams would advance to the best-of-five-set championship match.
Ludden started out Saturday morning against Argyle, then would play Tuxedo before finishing its round-robin turn against Panama. Immediately, Ludden found itself in trouble when Argyle prevailed by scores of 25-13 and 25-10.
Tuxedo was next, and the Gaelic Knights split those sets, dropping the first 27-25 but rebounding to win the second 25-23. Ludden needed to sweep them, though, because Argyle would go on to sweep Tuxedo and that, combined with Panama’s 4-0 start, eliminated the Gaelic Knights.
Battling to the end, Ludden lost the last two sets of the round robin to Panama by scores of 25-17 and 25-21, and Panama went on to defeat Argyle in a five-set thriller in the Nov. 20 final 17-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-13, 25-14.
Regardless of the result, though, the Gaelic Knights still took home great memories of a championship season that ended in the state final four.
