Nashua South girls volleyball sweeps Dover to win D1 title, finish undefeated season

DERRY — It was a history-making performance by the Nashua High School South girls volleyball team as it swept Dover 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) at Hackler Gym to complete a perfect 21-0 season.

The Green Wave had no answer for a South attack that swung from all corners of the court and never let Dover breathe.

“I think that’s been the story for us this year,” South coach Wayne Siejkowski said. “We can score points no matter what rotation. We’re not just two players deep, three players deep. It’s the way that they’ve always played. They all are so competitive in practice. They all work so hard. It allows us to be who we want to be. I can throw out any lineup and feel confident we’re going to score points.”

Senior hitter Kara Kelliher led the way with 15 kills. The Assumption-bound Kelliher hit with a ferocious pace and the energy spread across the attack. Seniors Paige Garland and Catherine Covert each added eight kills of their own. Cara Lecklider had six kills.

The Panthers were never able to let up as the Green Wave (16-6) refused to budge. Dover led early in all three sets, and South’s depth always found a way to fight back and win. Nowhere was that more evident than in the finishing stretch when South scored the final eight points of the set to clinch the victory.

Defensively the Panthers defended well at the net and always kept Dover from turning the corner and putting together a big run. It was South’s defense that took over in the third set. Dover led until the final points but couldn’t break away.

“We were working as hard as we could to read them, and our blockers were really good,” Kelliher said. “So defensively they put it down and we just work around them.”

The win caps a remarkable turnaround for South volleyball. The title was the first for a Nashua school since Nashua High School split back in 2004.

“I think it means a lot to our fans and to our city, to be honest,” Siejkowski said. “Me personally, I took over the program and I wanted to turn it around. South wasn’t all that great at that time, and we just slowly wanted to make it better.”

Over six years at the helm, Siejkowski has turned South from being a non-factor in D1 to an unbeaten state champ that only dropped a dozen sets all season.

“It started with just playing with confidence, playing for the love of the game,” Siejkowski said. “As we started adding players that were developed, had better skill sets, we could get more competitive. Then we could push the competitive edge. Then we started believing.”