Windham girls volleyball able to hold off Milford to stay undefeated

MILFORD – The Windham High School girls volleyball team took on Milford’s best shot on Wednesday, and despite a few shaky moments, the Jaguars were up to the challenge.

After winning the first game by 10 points, Windham survived a loss in Game 2 and came back to take two close games to beat the Spartans 3-1 in a Division II match. Game scores were 25-15, 25-27, 26-24 and 25-22.

While Windham (7-0) has knocked off some of the top teams in the division, it was the first time Jill Bartlett’s team faced a lot of adversity.

“I thought the girls were resilient,” the Windham coach said. “That’s the one thing that comes to my mind, they were able to bounce back after getting down. We really haven’t had too much of an opportunity to do that. I think that really defined our play. I said to them, their resiliency is going to be the key to our season.”

The Jaguars got a combined 14 kills from Basie Bostic, Alexis Sawyer and Emiline Sundman, while Samantha Crichton had seven digs in her first game back in over a week.

“(Crichton) played a phenomenal game in the back row,” Bartlett said. “This is her first time back after being out all last week. To come out and have the game she did was fantastic.

“The girls all around played really strong, but most importantly, they played supportive. It didn’t matter who was doing what, they were just right there for each other.”

Milford (6-1) got a solid game from Olivia Rougeau, who had 15 kills, three blocks and two aces, and Abby Blanchet, who had 20 assists and 13 digs. Amanda Alcox added 12 digs, an ace and an assist and Cecilia Arnoldy chipped in with eight kills and two blocks. Hanna Hembrow also had 10 assists, six digs, three kills and two aces.

“We’re very close,” Milford coach Chuck Roberson said. “We didn’t get down on ourselves and we just kept playing. I’m very happy. I’m not happy with losing because I really thought we had a shot at them, especially after coming back in the second game. I’m impressed with us and I think we’re just going to get better as time goes on.”

Windham took the first game by 10 points and got out to a 20-12 lead in the second game, but Milford was able to regroup and come back. The Spartans cut the lead to 22-17, and when Windham was called for being out of rotation, Milford took seven of the next eight points to grab a 24-23 lead.

The Jaguars were able to tie the game at 25, but the Spartans took the last two points to even the match 1-1.

Milford took a 9-5 lead in Game 3, forcing Windham to take a timeout, but after the break, the Jaguars won six of the next seven points to pull ahead 11-10. Windham led by as many as three before the Spartans rallied again, taking a 24-23 lead, but the Jaguars were able to take the game, winning on an ace by Hannah Scott.

The Spartans looked poised to send the match to a fifth game by jumping out to an 8-2 lead in Game 4, but Windham responded by winning 15 of the next 18 points to go ahead 17-11. Milford got back into the game, cutting Windham’s lead to two on a handful of occasions before pulling within one, 22-21, but the Jaguars were able to hold on for the win.