The past week of MIAA tournament games saw multiple Old Rochester Regional High School teams close out their seasons. However, girls volleyball is unsurprisingly still going strong. The No. 4 seed in Division 3 played twice at home last week, notching shutout wins in both matches.
On November 9, the Bulldogs hosted Groton-Dunstable in a Round of 16 matchup. The South Coast Conference champions came away with the 3-0 win with 11 kills from senior Maggie Brogioli, 8 kills from senior Sally Butler, 7 from junior Ella Soutter, and 5 from senior Sydnee Pires. The win secured ORR a spot in the elite eight against No. 5 Holliston.
When the two teams met on November 12, one might have expected the match to be much more competitive than ORR’s previous conquests as the teams were close in the rankings. However, the Bulldogs continued to impress at home with another 3-0 victory, winning the first set 25-9, the second 25-14 and the third 25-13. Brogioli led the team once again with 20 kills. Soutter had 8, Butler had 5 and Pires had 4. Freshman setter Aubrie Letourneau also contributed to the win with 31 assists.
This win left girls volleyball as one of two Old Rochester teams still standing and set up a semifinal showdown against No. 1 seed Tewksbury on November 16 at Bridgewater-Raynham (results were too late for press time). The winner will face the winner of the November 17 semifinal between No. 2 Dennis-Yarmouth and No. 6 Bedford for the Division 3 state championship (date and location TBD).
Cross Country
The ORR girls cross country team came in sixth place at the Division 2B Championships on November 13 at Gardner Golf Course. The varsity team consisting of Hanna Whalley (21:27), Corrine Robert (21:51), Alexia Gonsalves (22:18), Julia Sheridan (22:21), Maddie Connor (22:24), Madeline Dugas (23:57), and Aubrey Heise (25:01) will now advance to the All-State meet on Saturday, November 20, at Wrentham Developmental Center.
Tyler Young placed 16th overall in the boys race with a time of 17:40, qualifying him as an individual to compete at the All-State meet. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs placed 12th as a team and did not qualify as a team, putting an end to the season for the rest of the top-seven boys.
Football
The Bulldogs’ tournament run came to a halt on November 13 with a 21-14 loss to No. 4 seed Pentucket at Whittier Tech in Haverhill. The quarterfinal game was tied at 7-7 going into the second half, but a tough defense and two touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters respectively put an end to Old Rochester’s championship aspirations. While the Bulldogs were knocked out of the Division 5 playoffs, they still have their Thanksgiving game against Apponequet to look forward to on Thursday, November 25, at 10:00 am in Lakeville.
Boys Soccer
Old Rochester’s boys soccer team saw its season come to a heartbreaking end on November 10 when the hosts took a 4-2 loss in a Division 3 quarterfinal matchup against No. 10 seed Medway. Goals from Ryan Blanchette and George Psichopaidas brought the No. 7 ranked Bulldogs to a 2-1 lead at the end of the first half, but Medway came back with three goals in the second half to end ORR’s tournament run.
Sports Roundup
By Matthew Curry