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Timberlane tops Windham to earn title game berth

Thursday, June, 12 By David Willis
Staff writer

NASHUA —  Just as the ball fell to the floor for the clinching point of the match, Timberlane’s Mike Murphy exploded with emotion, sprinting a lap around half court before joining his teammates.

“There is nothing better than winning, I will tell you that,” said Murphy. “And this one was very sweet.”

Murphy was one of many heros for the Owls last night, as Timberlane volleyball locked down a berth in the state championship game with a 25-22, 25-13, 23-25, 25-21 victory over rival Windham in the state semifinals at Nashua North High School.

“This is just an amazing night,” said Owls junior Cam Donnelly. “This has been our goal since Day 1, and we accomplished it. We came prepared, stayed confident and just played our game to the end. It was great.”

The victory sent Timberlane to the state title game, where they will face nine-time defending state champion Salem on Saturday at 6 p.m. back at Nashua North. It also avenged a tourney loss to the Jaguars a season ago.

“Salem is an amazing team,” said Donnelly. “But we are excited to face them and we would love to take them down.”

The game is a rematch of the 2009 state championship game — Timberlane’s last trip to the state final — which the Blue Devils won 3-1.

“This is our first trip to the state championship as a group,” said Cam Todd. “That is what we have pushed for every single day, and I really believe we can win our first title.”

Timberlane wasted no time flexing its muscle. The Owls won the first game 25-22, then rolled to a 25-13 domination in Game 2.

“Definitely the first game was huge,” said Murphy. “We came out and won that first game, then came out strong for the second and it was a huge lift. We felt great.”

But the Jaguars, who went to the title game a season ago, were not about to simply accept defeat. They rebounded to win Game 3 25-23, thanks in large part to a 7-1 run that Tucker Lippold sparked with a massive block.

“We slipped up a little in that game, but we just had to put that out of our minds,” said Todd. “We just had to forget it, because we felt like we were the better team and we wanted to show it.”

After Windham jumped out to a quick lead in Game 4, Philip Balanoff got the Owls going to with a big block, then took over serving and sent his squad on an 8-1 run, led but huge spikes by Murphy and Donnelly.

The Jaguars managed one last rally to cut the lead to 22-18, but Todd set the tone back Timberlane’s way with a block that echoed throughout the gym, and the Owls took the game 25-21 and the match.

The trio of Murphy, Todd and Donnelly dominated the net, combing for 38 kills. Donnelly and Murphy each added 10 digs and Balanoff added 43 assists. Evan Todd led the Jaguars with 17 kills.

Now, the Owls attempt the impossible, snapping Salem’s streak of nine straight state titles.

“It is definitely going to be very special on Saturday,” said Donnelly. “You don’t have a lot of chances in your life to do something like play for a state title. So it really is something very special and memorable.”