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Salem earns 10th straight trip to final

Thursday, June, 12 By David Willis
Staff writer

NASHUA — Another year, another trip to the state championship game for Salem volleyball, it’s 10th straight berth. Must be old-hat by this point, right?

Yeah, maybe for the rest of New Hampshire. But not the Blue Devils, that’s for sure.

“I think it’s definitely getting old for the rest of the state,” said Salem senior Jacob Slepian with a wide smile. “I know there is a lot of hate for Salem volleyball across the state. But we love it. We love being the best. Every year is different and special.”

Salem volleyball will have its chance to stand atop the New Hampshire volleyball world for the 10th consecutive season, as they earned a return trip to the state championship game by dispatching of archrival Pinkerton 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 last night in the semifinals at Nashua North High School.

“It’s really a huge honor,” said senior Darren Righini. “Everyone assumes we are going to go back every season, but it really isn’t as easy as it looks. We work very hard to win every game, and it feels amazing to be heading back to the title game.”

The Blue Devils will face off against Timberlane, which won the early game yesterday over Windham, in the state title game tomorrow at 6 p.m. back at Nashua North.

“It is so special every year,” said Matt Lavasseur, whose voice was barely audible due to cheering and motivating throughout the contest. “The title game is going to be hard, but we are practicing better than we ever have.”

Despite the iconic Salem streak, the Blue Devils entered last night’s contest with a level of uncertainty.

Across the court from them was Pinkerton, the team that dealt them a 3-0 loss on May 27, snapping a 54-match winning streak and dealing the Devils just their second loss in 181 contests.

“There was a lot (of revenge) on our minds,” said Righini. “It was really hard to lose to them. They are our rivals, and losing is never fun. But especially with a long winning streak it hurts. We knew we had to come in feeling confident.”

The Blue Devils were hot out of the gates, winning the first game 25-18 which Lavasseur, a 6-foot-3 mountain of a man, gave an exclamation point with a screaming spike.

“Matt moved back to the middle and had the game of his life,” said Slepian. “He was awesome and we expect he will continue to play like that.”

Pinkerton continued to be pesky, hanging in the match, but Salem continued to prove the closers. Back-to-back points for Patrick Frydryck all but ended Game 2, and while the Astros pushed it to 24-23 in Game 3, Frydryck struck again for the spike that closed out the match.

“We had that bump in the road but everyone was excited to get back at it, and going back to the title game this season is the best feeling in a long time,” said Slepian. “The title game is going to be the most exciting moment of my career.”

The Blue Devils must now take care of Timberlane, a squad they beat twice this season, but the second was a brawl going the distance and decided by 15-12 score in the decisive game.

“I think Timberlane is a team very deserving of a trip to the title game,” said Righini. “They are a talented team and I am very excited to play them. It’s going to be a great matchup.”

Additional stories:

• Salem earns 10th straight trip to final