Sports Roundup: Volleyball Wins Final Home Game, Field Hockey Enters Top 10 Of State Bracket
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes updates on the volleyball team after an intense five set match, the field hockey team after yet another victory, the boys soccer team as they remain red hot, the boys cross country team after securing the lighthouse league championship, and the girls soccer team.
Volleyball Wins Five Set Match Against Sturgis West In Final Home Match
The Nantucket volleyball team earned a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Sturgis West Navigators Monday evening in what will be their final home match of the season.
“(Earlier in the season), I think it was our second game of the season. It might have been our first away game. That's when we played them and it was 3-0 them and our team had an absolute meltdown,” Nantucket head coach Makaila Lyons said. “That was the game where they were like screaming at each other, kids were crying, and when you see a team where something (like that) happens, we're learning things because for them to be able to come back (from that) is so big and it shows so much growth.
“Just the work that they've done this season, they've been working so freaking hard and just being able to show up for each other, especially in that last set, because you can see when they get down, and it's a hard place to get out of for any athlete, for any person, right,” Lyons continued. “But for them to dig out and you know, like, 'Hey, this is probably our last home game for seniors,' I told them it doesn't necessarily matter the score, but you'll remember if you end this happy or sad. You're going to remember if you feel good or bad at the end of your last game. That you will remember, and they rode with that.”
The Whalers lost to the Navigators earlier this season on the road 0-3 in ugly fashion as Lyons referenced, but early on in Monday’s match they appeared to be on their way to a quick and easy victory after winning set one 26-24 and set two 25-20.
But Sturgis battled back and won set three handily 25-18 and set four 25-15 to force a winner-take-all fifth set. In set five, the Whalers jumped out to an early 8-5 lead and never looked back while winning it 15-10. Senior Leah Crowley had a pair of blocks in the final set and overall had a strong game as one of the Whaler’s core players.
Nantucket is now 6-13 and they will travel to the Cape to face Dennis-Yarmouth on Wednesday, October 23 at 4 p.m. The Whalers hosted DY earlier this season on Sept. 25th and lost 3-0.
Field Hockey Wins Fifth Straight
The Nantucket field hockey team hosted the Falmouth Clippers Tuesday afternoon and won in convincing fashion. They beat the Clippers 5-1 behind five different goal scorers to improve to 12-2-2 this season. It was also the final regular season home game for the Whalers with just two games remaining on their schedule.
"I thought we did a great job coming out and hitting the ground hard," Whaler head coach Dan Weber said. "Every once in a while, we have a little tendency to take five or 10 minutes to get the engine going. But I didn't think that was the case today. I thought we were really aggressive and good from the start, which is nice."
Claire Genthner, Carley Ray, Caroline Collette, Suz Peraner, and Evie Phelps were the Nantucket goal scorers. The Whalers jumped out to a 3-0 lead at halftime. After Falmouth came out with an early second half push and scored two minutes into the second half, Peraner got the goal back for the Whalers with seven minutes left in the third quarter to retake their three-goal lead.
"I said at the beginning of the year, I thought we would have a lot of people score goals this year," Weber said. "I'd have to look at the scorebook but that's got to be five or six girls with more than five goals I would imagine.”
The Whalers added one more goal in the fourth to seal the deal. The victory also secured a season sweep against Falmouth after they beat the Clippers 1-0 earlier this season on the Cape.
"I think that it shows what a collective unit we are,” Weber said of Tuesday’s performance. “We have great players of course, but not someone that we need to lean on. If someone has an off day, someone else steps up which is really good. I think it's nice to see five different goal scorers.”
Currently ranked #9 in the latest Div. 4 power rankings released late Tuesday morning, Nantucket will try to end their regular season on a high note with a matchup against Dennis-Yarmouth on Thursday, October 24th at 3 p.m. and Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, October 26th at 10:30 a.m.
The Whalers have already beaten both teams this season at home. They beat DY 2-1 in their season opener on September 4th and Martha’s Vineyard 7-0 on September 28th.
Boys Soccer Beats Sturgis East
The boys soccer team is red hot as they approach the end of their regular season and on Tuesday, scored a game-high this season of eight goals in an 8-1 road victory against the Sturgis East Storm.
Nantucket has now won seven of their last eight games and hold a record of 9-2-4 this season as the #18 seed in the latest Div. 4 power rankings.
Whaler head coach Rich Brannigan II said that his team came out fast, strong, and played a full 80 minutes – scoring four goals in each half.
Freshman Stoyan Popov opened the scoring off an assist from senior Elvis Alonzo in the 5th minute, and the Whalers didn’t look back from there. Popov finished the game with a hat trick and completed the feat early in the second half. Alonzo and senior Brian Mejia each tallied one goal and two assists.
Junior Santos Perez buried one goal and freshman Aldo Lemus also scored one goal and added one assist. It was also a game to remember for junior varsity callup – Leonardo Hernandez – who scored one goal and had one assist in his first varsity minutes.
The Whalers still have three games remaining on their schedule – all on the road. They will travel to face Cape Cod Academy on Friday, October 25th at 3 p.m. Then on Saturday, October 26th they will travel to Martha’s Vineyard for a 2:30 p.m. game. The final game of their regular season will be Tuesday, October 29th against St. John Paul II at 3:30 p.m.
Cross Country Wins Road Meet
The boys cross country team won another meet on Tuesday – beating Cape Cod Academy 18-41. The victory secured the Whalers a lighthouse league championship. The final times for each Nantucket runner are below.
Rory Murray: 17:28
Dorian Manov: 18:50
Mike Sullivan: 19:13
Numa Solano: 21:16
Jimmy Fuller: 21:32
Nick Ferrantella: 21:52
Hayden Roberts: 21:58
Harlan Wright: 22:04
Finnley Seip: 22:18
Jack Harris: 23:14
Boris Boychev: 23:15
Dom Pasys: 23:55
Will Manning: 26:02
Iain MacIver: 31:19
The Whalers will partake in the Cape & Islands Cross Country Championships alongside 12 other schools in Dennis-Yarmouth on Wednesday, October 30 at 2 p.m.
Girls Soccer Drops Road Match
The girls soccer team had their three-game win streak snapped Tuesday afternoon against the St. John Paul II Lions 5-1 on the road. Nantucket’s lone goal was scored by junior captain Chelsea Gross.
Nantucket went 0-1-1 this season against the Lions and tied them 3-3 on the island earlier this season on Sept. 14th.
The Whalers are currently #18 in the latest Div. 4 power rankings and have an 8-4-3 record. They will try to get back in the win column on Thursday, October 24th when they host Cape Cod Academy at 4 p.m. This game is also the Whaler’s senior game.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Wednesday, October 23:
The volleyball team will be on the road facing Dennis-Yarmouth at 4 p.m.
Thursday, October 24th:
The girls soccer team will host Cape Cod Academy at 4 p.m.
The field hockey team will be on the road facing Dennis-Yarmouth at 3 p.m.
For more updates on Whaler sports throughout the year, you can:
Follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram here.
Follow Sports Editor David Creed on X here.
Follow Sports Photographer Chris Tran on Instagram here.