This Dartmouth junior is making a name for herself in her first varsity volleyball season

DARTMOUTH — It’s hard to believe Adeline Ablett just began playing volleyball a year ago.

The Dartmouth junior alludes confidence every time she goes up for a swing and pounds the ball down like a veteran.

“Adeline is killing it,” said Dartmouth head coach Rachel Lassey. “Adeline has exceeded my expectations. The girl played soccer freshman year and came in and was tall and lanky. I was like, ‘OK I'm excited about this.’ She’s putting the ball down and she’s putting the ball down in really challenging places so I’m very proud of what she’s done.”

Just three games into her first season on varsity, Ablett was asked to take a bigger role with Dartmouth’s go-to hitter, senior Ava Crane, out sick.

And Ablett delivered, helping Dartmouth go 4-1 in Crane’s absence. She also gained valuable experience along the way.

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“We missed her a lot, but it was great because it was my first year playing and I had never played in a varsity game before and I was getting a lot of sets and a lot of varsity experience,” said Ablett. “It was really meaningful because I was able to build my IQ and I was able to learn in the right moments to do the right thing. My confidence has grown a lot in the last few weeks. It’s insane. I feel a part of the team instead of feeling like someone who doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

Now that Crane is healthy, the progression of Ablett has given Dartmouth another option at the net. The pair combined for 18 kills in Dartmouth’s 3-1 non-league win over GNB Voc-Tech on Thursday night at the Carlin Lynch Activity Center.

“I’ve been on teams before where I only have one or two people I can really trust to put the ball down, but on this team I really have confidence to set the ball to anybody and they’ll put it where they need to,” said Dartmouth senior setter Lauren Augusto. “I’ve never spread the ball out more in my entire life of setting in volleyball.”

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Ablett said she’s glad she made the move to volleyball.

“I always played soccer and I used to come to my sister’s (volleyball) matches when I was little,” she said. “They were so fun to watch. The energy on the court felt like a real team. When soccer wasn’t working out, I turned to volleyball and I love it. It’s just a great experience.”

Ablett plans to learn as much as she can during her first year on varsity.

“The expectations were raised a lot from JV to varsity but I think it’s a lot more fun to play with girls that are at such a high level,” she said. “I’m always learning from people and I obviously get great sets from Lauren, who is amazing. I get to always be learning from the people from around me so it’s fun.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first set was a tight one with neither team leading by more than four points before Dartmouth scored the final six points to win 25-18.

It remained close throughout the second stanza as there were 18 ties with the last coming at 27 all. Back-to-back miscues by GNB Voc-Tech allowed Dartmouth to pull out a 29-27 victory.

“We got stuck a little bit,’ said GNB Voc-Tech head coach Erika Kosta, formerly Vassal. “We kind of hurt ourselves with unforced errors at the worst possible moments.”

The Bears responded in the third game by riding three straight serves from Morgan Teves to a 25-23 victory.

Moriah Baptista had four of her team-high 11 kills in the third set while Layna Ross came up with a pair of big blocks down the stretch. Ross finished with five blocks and five kills.

“She’s great,” Kosta said. “She’s spicy. She has the ability to take over a game. She just doesn’t know it yet. When she gets going, she can get going. I look forward to seeing where she is at the end of this season and how far we can push her to come.”

Dartmouth answered in the fourth set, jumping out to a 15-5 lead en route to a 25-7 victory.

“Voke is a very improved team,” Lassey said. “They’ve very athletic. They have all the players that they need to be successful.

“They need to step up their level of communication and put their serves in the court. We’re going through growing pains. It will make us better in the long run.”

Lassey said she sees a lot of potential in this year’s team.

“It’s a very talented group of girls,” she said. “I think if we can settle in and get our chemistry back, we can do good things. I’m hoping to see that.”

WHAT IT MEANS: Dartmouth bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Case on Wednesday night with the win over GNB Voc-Tech. Dartmouth improves to 7-2 and will visit New Bedford on Monday. GNB Voc-Tech falls to 7-4. The Bears visit New Bedford on Friday.

KOSTA ON LILLY MISAY: “The kid has pretty much done everything we’ve asked her to do. She started the season at outside hitter and has shifted to libero. She does a really good job. For her, she knows how successful this team can be. Her freshman year is the year we went to the South final so she has had a real taste of how successful you can be.”

LASSEY ON AUGUSTO: “She’s the glue that holds everything together and she’s the rock. Without Ava, she’s had to deal with a lot. She’s somebody that I've been waiting for this moment for her and to have this time to shine. She’s all over that court.”

VOC-TECH STATS: Lilly Misay had 20 digs and was perfect from the service line with three aces and 10 service points and added four kills. Baptista had 11 kills while Ross added five blocks and five kills. Elle McCormack had 24 assists and two service aces.

DARTMOUTH STATS: Crane had 12 kills and 22 digs while Ablett added six kills and Haley Jenkins added five kills. Augusto chipped in with 32 assists.

NOTES: Lassey praised the play of senior Erynn Jasparro, who has changed positions to fill the void with teammates out. “Erynn Jasparro really stepped up to the plate,” Lassey said. “We switched her from the right side to outside and she’s really been killing it. I couldn’t ask for more from her. She’s done some really big things for us. It’s been fantastic.” … Dartmouth was without outside hitter Brooke Davis while GNB Voc-Tech was missing libero Koral Medeiros. … Thursday was just Crane’s second game back after missing five.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth girls volleyball beats Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech