November 1st, the Sabers hosted their end of the season banquet.  We were happy to congratulate Myles Kopka, Greg Cloutier, Eric Bullock, and Sven Benson for being nominated to the Senior All-Star Game on November 10th.  You can watch them play along with all the other league senior all-stars on Saturday at Souhegan at 5:00pm.

We also awarded the following special awards: Myles Kopka - Sportsmanship Award and Coach's Choice Award, Brian Hynes - Player of the Year, David Jordan - Rookie of the Year, Greg Cloutier - Offensive Player of the Year.  Congratulations to those players and to the whole team for a great season!

Souhegan played hard in the semifinal match against Salem but fell once again to a team that showed why they're the number one seed.  In the three games, Brian Hynes came back from his injury and put up a team high 5 kills.  Sven Benson, Greg Cloutier, Myles Kopka, Sam Laforet, and David Jordan also got in on the action with another 12 combined kills.  Salem will advance to the finals where they will play Keene on Friday, October 26th.

We ended the season with a respectable 11-7 record and met our goal of the 4th seed and a home playoff game.  That led to Souhegan's first official NHIAA tournament win since the sport was recognized by the NHIAA in 2005.  Congratulations to the team for a great run.  Thanks to all the parents and fans who faithfully came out and supported us.  You helped keep it fun.  Our Volleyball Banquet will be held at 6:00pm on Thursday, November 1st. 

Sven Benson (4) hitting over two Timberlane blockers.

If they say teams need to be playing their best ball in the playoffs then the Souhegan Boys Volleyball (11-6) team is right on track.  Having lost in the Quarterfinal round each of the last three years, they accomplished what their recent predecessors could not by defeating the Timberlane Owls (8-9) 3 games to 1.

Both teams were well coached, defensive teams so the match-up was inevitably an edge of your seat thriller.  The Sabers came out strong winning the first point in each of the 4 games, but the Owls matched their intensity keeping the first game close until the Sabers got a late run to win 25-17.  Down one game, Timberlane's hitters led by captains Mike Nye and Alex Mill got them back in the match winning the second game 25-21.  Tied at one game a piece, the Sabers knew how important the third game would be to momentum and mental toughness.  Their hitters came out swinging and the Owls defense hung with them most of the way making great digs and chasing down loose balls, but in the end it was the was the Saber offense that had their way winning 25-17.

In the do-or-die last match, Timberlane came out flat and Souhegan hung to a 4 point lead most of the way through the game.  The Owls crawled out of that hole to finally take the lead at 24-23.  On game point, junior Ethan May came up with some clutch serving for the Sabers who came from behind and won on a Greg Cloutier kill, 26-24.

With senior hitter Brian Hynes out with an ankle injury, the rest of the Saber hitters stepped up to fill the void.  Senior rookie David Jordan led the team with an outstanding 15 kills, junior Sam Laforet had 7, and seniors Sven Benson, Greg Cloutier, and Myles Kopka added 5, 4, and 3 respectively.

But the heroes for the Sabers were the defensive play makers in the deep court who continually kept the ball alive and turned free balls into big plays.  Along with the hitters, Eric Bullock, Drew Sagon, and Ethan May were instrumental on the defensive side.

The celebration for the Sabers will be short because they have to turn their attention to the undefeated Salem Blue Devils (17-0) in the semifinals.  Salem won each of the regular season match-ups 3-0 so Souhegan will have their hands full.  That game will be at Pinkerton Academy on Tuesday, October 23 at 7:00pm.

For the first time in four years the Sabers finish the regular season with 10 wins.  And for the first time in four years, their quarterfinal match will be held in Amherst.  This was our goal from the beginning of the season and it came down to the final two points of the season.

The boys came out strong and confident against the Timberlane Owls coming from behind to win the first game 25-23.  Over the next three games both defenses were fierce and scrappy picking up all sorts of junk coming over the net, but in the end it was Souhegan's impressive hitters that won the day.  With a combine 57 assists and 63 kills it was their best hitting day by far.  Five different hitters had double-digit kills: David Jordan(15), Sam Laforet(12), Greg Cloutier(11), Brian Hynes(11), and Sven Benson(10).

The quarterfinal match at Souhegan next Thursday will feature a rematch between these two teams, but then the losers face elimination.

This year's Sabers are looking good and ready to make a deep playoff run.  Sitting at 7-3 the season looks optimistic, but more than that the guys are playing great.  We have many offensive weapons to choose from.  Sven Benson and Brian Hynes can both hit a great spike from the outside.  Sam Laforet and David Jordan may make up one of the best middle hitting combos in the league.  Greg Cloutier on the back side and Eric Bullock from the backrow provide a great change up so defenses never know what to expect.

Our defense has been quick and scrappy.  They scoop up free balls and turn them into great plays.  That will be key, especially against teams like Londonderry and Salem.  We have a tough schedule ahead with 3 games each of the next two weeks, but we think we've matured enough over the season that we're ready to handle it.

Off to a good start, we won our first game at Coe-Brown, 3-1.  We were all a little rusty, but played well enough to bring home an undefeated 1-0 record.  Our next match put us up against the state champion Salem Blue Devils.  They were much more formidable an opponent.  We stayed quite competitive but they had one big hitter that wore down our defense.  But we learned what it's going to take to compete with the top level teams, so we're working on tightening up our defense, and making big plays on offense.  We hope you can make it out for our home opener against Keene on Tuesday at 5:00pm.