Girls Volleyball Notebook: Hollis Brookline hoping for change of fortune

It was no surprise when the Hollis Brookline High School girls volleyball team jumped up to Division I before the 2010 season, and the Cavaliers justified that move by winning the division title the following season.

Last year, the Cavs dropped to the ninth seed and were bounced in the first round by Bishop Guertin. Odd for a program that had been a lock for the semifinals in Division II, and hadn’t failed to make the quarterfinals since the early years of coach Becky Balfour’s tenure.

But even more shocking is HB’s record in 2013. With a win over Manchester Memorial, the Cavs (4-8) snapped a seven-match losing streak, which on the surface looks unfathomable.

“That teams is definitely better than their record,” Merrimack coach Tammy Lambrou said of HB after her Tomahawks rallied to win 3-2 on Monday. “They’re not playing like a team that is on a losing streak.”

There may be no team in the state that goes through a tougher seven-match stretch than the Cavs did. The teams they played are a combined 68-18 on the season, including Dover (13-0), Bedford (11-2), Nashua North (10-3) and Merrimack (10-2). In some of those matches, HB hasn’t played well, but in others, the Cavs have been competitive, which is encouraging to Balfour.

“Our bus driver only sees us once a week, but every time he sees us, he says ‘I know you guys lost, but that’s the best you’ve played,'” Balfour said. “We’ve been playing tough teams. The (players) know and they’re not worrying about the record.”

Starting with that win against Memorial, the Cavs don’t face a team with a winning record the rest of the way. That could be the perfect opportunity for them to move up a few spots in the standings, although with eight losses already, it would be tough for HB to get a top eight spot and the home game that comes with it.

“At the end of the day, if we’re better for all these awesome matches that we have, so be it,” Balfour said. “As long as we get into the tournament, it doesn’t matter.”

Streaking Bulldogs

Bedford has won 11 straight matches since opening the season with back-to-back 3-2 losses to Alvirne and Nashua North. During the streak, the Bulldogs have swept six matches while beating Spaulding and Merrimack in five games.

On Wednesday, Bedford took down Londonderry 3-0, getting 13 kills, five aces and a block from Hannah Koehler. Rebecca Foti added nine digs, five kills and five aces and Sadhana Tadepalli had 20 assists and five digs.

The Bulldogs will host Pinkerton (8-4) on Friday before heading to Dover on Oct. 15.

Undefeated

Dover is one of two undefeated teams left in the state, with the other being Nute, of Milton, sitting at 11-0 in Division III.

The Green Wave (13-0) have five matches remaining, with the next three against Bedford (Oct. 15), Goffstown (Oct. 17) and Pinkerton (Oct. 21). Of those three, only the match against Goffstown is on the road.

Nute also has five matches, with two against winning teams – Farmington on Oct. 11 and Moultonborough on Oct. 18. The Rams also have a match against Epping (5-5) on Oct.15.

However, of the eight other teams in Division III with winning records, Nute has only played three of them; Moultonborough will be the fourth. The Rams have defeated Campbell (10-1), Inter-Lakes (9-3) and Farmington (7-4) this season. They’ve also haven’t lost a game this season, winning every match by a count of 3-0.

Hot/Not

Bedford isn’t the only team that’s turned its season around after stumbling out of the gate. In Division III, Sunapee (10-1) has won eight in a row, including two 3-2 victories over Mascenic and Newfound its last two times out.

In Division II, Coe-Brown (10-1) has shot to the top of the standings by winning nine in a row, and the Bears haven’t lost a game in their last six matches. Gilford (10-2) has also won nine in a row to move into the top four in D2.

Going in the other direction have been Milford in D2 and Prospect Mountain in D3.

Milford was in first place in the division at 8-1, but a three-match losing streak – with losses to Windham, St. Thomas and Gilford – have dropped the Spartans to seventh. It doesn’t get any easier, with Portsmouth and Souhegan up next.

After starting 4-1, Prospect Mountain has lost six of its last seven and is in a three-way tie for 12th in D3.