‘Turning point for our season’: Marlborough volleyball fights past Assabet in five-set thriller

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Marlborough’s Ella Hobin fires the ball past two Assabet defenders. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

Marlborough’s Ella Hobin fires the ball past two Assabet defenders. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

MARLBOROUGH – After five sets and over two hours of volleyball, Marlborough and Assabet players stood on the court exhausted but motivated. With the two schools separated by just one mile – and two traffic lights on Route 85 – fans from both programs filled the Marlborough High School gymnasium for this rivalry match.

Up 14-11 in a back-and-forth, winner-take-all fifth set, Marlborough’s Brooklynn DeJesus served the ball into the heart of the Assabet defense, which quickly returned the ball back to the Panthers. Olivia Gould bumped the ball to Juliana Aristizabal, who set the ball to Ella Hobin on the outside. Hobin smacked the ball to the Aztecs, and though Assabet tried to mount another successful return, the team fell short.

Screaming, the Panthers hugged one another to celebrate the win. Marlborough won the match 3-2.

The Panthers celebrate winning a point. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

The Panthers celebrate winning a point. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

“It feels amazing, and I know the girls fought so hard. At the beginning of the season we were having a really tough time nailing down our positions and getting comfortable with each other, and we’ve been fighting really hard, and each game we’re getting closer to playing as a whole unit,” said Marlborough Head Coach Kelsie Heinecke.

Though they were challenged by Assabet from the start, the Panthers seemed as if they might cruise to victory early. Tied at 6-6 to open the match, Marlborough pulled ahead 19-8 in the first set, ultimately winning 25-18. After calling a timeout trailing 9-4 in the second set, the Panthers battled back again to win 25-20.

But the Aztecs weren’t ready to quit and came into the third set firing, taking an immediate 6-0 lead. Assabet ultimately won the set 25-7. The Aztecs led for most of the fourth, and although the Panthers came back late, Assabet saved multiple match points to push the game to a winner-take-all fifth set.

The Panthers celebrate winning a point. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

The Panthers celebrate winning a point. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

While Assabet held the momentum entering the do-or-die set, Marlborough’s mental toughness made the difference. The Aztecs took a 5-1 lead before the Panthers clawed back to tie the set at 11-11. Four straight points – including the winning sequence from Gould, Aristizabal, and Hobin – secured the lead for the orange and black.

“In our first few games, we had a really hard time with getting in our heads and things started to crumble. Even though we lost those middle sets, them pushing through and pushing on to the next point – it means the world,” Heinecke told the Community Advocate as players congratulated one another after the match.

And as exciting as the five-set win was for Marlborough, it was more significant than the numbers indicate. Coming into the match at 1-4 with disappointing straight-set losses to North Middlesex and Leominster, the team of 10 seniors and three underclassmen had been putting in work to improve. Seeing it pay off, they said, was gratifying.

Marlborough Coach Kelsie Heinecke speaks to her team during a timeout. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

Marlborough Coach Kelsie Heinecke speaks to her team during a timeout. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

“We just said, ‘Take it point-by-point.’ Volleyball is all about mistakes, and so we had to reel it in. We knew that whoever made less mistakes would pull it off,” Gould said. “I think it’s a turning point for our season.”

“We had to focus on picking people up after mistakes and communicating. There’s things that we have to work on this season, and our record doesn’t reflect how hard we’ve been working, but this win means so much to us,” said Hobin.

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