Chariho upsets two-time defending champ North Kingstown in boys volleyball semifinals
NORTH KINGSTOWN – When Matt Tiernan was in third grade, he used to watch the Chariho boys volleyball team play and couldn’t wait for the day he could suit up for the Chargers.
Now, in his senior season, he’s got them in a place they haven’t been since before that.
Monday night, Tiernan and Chariho traveled to North Kingstown and pulled off the upset of the season against the two-time defending state champs. The Chargers came off the bus full of energy and emotion, won the first two sets and after the Skippers won the third and fourth, played calm, cool and collected when it mattered most. Chariho withstood a late NK comeback and closed out the 27-25, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 15-10 win to earn its first spot in the state championship game since 2010.
“We only have one banner in the whole gym and it’s from 1989,” Tiernan said. “It’s what I’ve been thinking about the past three years and we got one step closer tonight.”
Despite North Kingstown having won both matchups this spring – a sweep in NK on April 19 and four-set win on May 17 – Chariho arrived at North Kingstown full of confidence.
The Chargers were able to grind out a win in the first set and the momentum carried over into the second, putting NK one set from elimination.
But the match was far from over. The Skippers rebounded nicely in the third set and looked like they had all the momentum after dominating the fourth.
Chariho wasn’t concerned going to the fifth set.
“It’s a short game to 15. We play it in games of five – first to five, first to 10, first to 15,” Tiernan said. “There’s not a lot of margin for error, so you have to start out strong and once you get that lead it’s very important.”
The Chargers jumped out early in the fifth and built a commanding 13-7 lead. North followed by winning the next three points – but Chariho came up with a sideout to get the serve back. North couldn’t put down the attack and Brenton Knowles came up with the kill to close the match.
“It was just unreal. Not a lot of people expected us to be here,” Tiernan said. “We haven’t had a monumental win like that in program history in a long time. It was a lot of emotions.”
Chariho will be at Rhode Island College on Saturday at noon but won’t know who it will play until Wednesday night when No.3 Mount St. Charles/North Smithfield takes on No. 2 La Salle. The Chargers were swept by the Rams in two matches – losing in five on April 25 and getting swept in Providence on May 23 – and split their season series with the Mounties, winning on the road in five on April 27 but getting swept at home on May 10.
None of that matters now.
“We’re going to play our best no matter what, no matter who it is,” Tiernan said. “We don’t care either team it is … each team has something to offer and we have to match that.”
BASEBALL
Division I Pod 1 Losers Bracket Semifinal
Central 7, Portsmouth 2
A complete-game effort from starting pitcher Justin Odsen, who allowed only one earned run on six hits while striking out eight, helped Central upend Portsmouth in the Division I losers bracket. Providing much of the offense for the Knights were Adonis Medina, who banged out four hits with an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored, and Maikel Soriano, who went 2-for-2, including a triple and three RBI. Nick Spaner had an RBI double for the Patriots in the loss. Central advances to the losers'-bracket final on Tuesday at Cumberland beginning at 4:15 p.m.
Division II Pod 2 Losers Bracket final
Barrington 8, Middletown 2
Quinn Murphy went 3-for-3 with two RBI, helping Barrington defeat Middletown for the second time in four days and ousting the Islanders in the double-elimination round of the D-II playoffs. Murphy tripled, singled twice and also drew a walk. Trevor Snow also tripled for the Eagles. Barrington starting pitcher Owen Pfeffer earned the victory by pitching the first five innings and allowing only one run, which was unearned, on one hit. Pfeffer walked two, struck out six and needed only 69 pitches to complete his outing. The Eagles also played errorless defense while five Islanders errors led to five unearned runs.
SOFTBALL
Division I Winners Bracket Semifinal
La Salle 11, Cranston West 4
The Rams' Hailey Vigneau continued to shine despite being only a freshman as she struck out nine and walked just two in a complete-game victory over the Falcons. Her record improves to 12-1 this season. She was backed offensively by Claire Boulanger, who went 3-for-3 with two walks, and Giuliana Ialongo, who went 4-for-5 and made an amazing diving catch on a line drive up the middle. Eight of the nine La Salle batters notched at least one hit. With the victory, La Salle will advance to the winners’-bracket finals next Monday against the winner of the Pilgrim-Bay View game.
Tuesday's schedule
SOFTBALL
Division I
Double-elimination, second round
Bay View at Pilgrim, 5:15 p.m.
Division II
Double-elimination, second round
Westerly at East Greenwich, 4:30 p.m.
Mt. Hope at Ponaganset, 4:30 p.m.
One-loss bracket, first round
South Kingstown vs. Johnston at Johnston Memorial Park, 6 p.m.
Division III
Winners-bracket final
Tiverton at Mount St. Charles, 5:15 p.m.
One-loss bracket, first round
Exeter/West Greenwich vs. Cranston East at Brayton Ave. Field, 5 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Division II
Semifinal
Central at Cranston West, 6:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Central and Barrington win in baseball; La Salle wins in softball
