COMETS TAKE DOWN BHS TO OPEN PLAYOFFS
By Landon Potvin
County Courier
ST. ALBANS – On Tuesday, the third-seeded BFA-St. Albans Comets faced off against the eleventh-seeded Burlington Seahorses in the Division I playdowns. The Comets were in control of the first two sets, and in the third set, they came from behind with the help of Jaylin Bedard and her six aces to beat the Seahorses 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17) for its first-ever playoff victory.
Burlington (4-9) began the third set with a 7-1 lead. Adrianna Lyons of BHS helped continue the run with a dig. Around halfway through the set, Jadyn Walent’s kill cut the deficit to one point and gave Bedard the serve, and she never looked back. She delivered three aces in a row for the Comets, then three more for an eight-point run. The Comets (7-6) won the set after the Seahorses hit the net on its last service, bringing the final score of the final set to 25 to 17.
“Jaylin Bedard was just on fire,” said BFA coach Richard Berthiaume. “She had power after power, and not only were they good serves, they were aces. Putting it on the defensive net changed the whole set around.”
Teammate Emilia Montage also expressed how significant Bedard’s serves were.
“Jaylin comes in and just gives us a bomb of a service,” said Montange. “She picked us up when we were down, and we caught fire and started our winning streak.”
Bedard finished with seven aces. After each point, the Comets huddle up to get hyped up for the next serve.
PHOTO GALLERY: COMETS OUST BURLINGTON TO OPEN PLAYOFFS
“The huddles are really important,” said Bedard. “It brings the team together and gets us all hyped up and makes us continue what we are doing.”
To start the match, Walent made a diving effort to keep a play alive for Lindsey LaBelle to send the ball back over. The two girls continued to make plays in the same possession when Walent spiked the ball, and LeBelle made the block on the return for the point. In the following service, there was another superb volley for BFA to increase their lead to three.
“We played really good today,” said Montange.” We talked a lot, and that’s one of the things we worked on in practice yesterday.” The Comets’ head coach added to the thought of how well the team played Tuesday night.
“To see how far these kids have come this year is pretty special,” said coach Berthiaume. “We were pretty excited, and this is one of the most complete games we have played all year.”
LeBelle and BFA went on another six-point run. LeBelle had two of her three aces during that run. With an assist from Ava Hutchins, Montagne placed a perfect ball in the back left corner for one of her four kills. Burlington served into the net to give BFA their final point and complete the set 25-16.
The second set brought more action to the court. Hannah Branon tipped the ball over the Seahorses’ fingertips, causing them to hit it out of bounds. A few services passed and Hutchins made an athletic dig, laying out sideways. Montage blocked the kill attempt from BHS for the point. For the first time in two years, homecourt made a difference thanks to a raucous St. Albans crowd, but Burlington was not leaving without a fight.
Burlington’s Isa Masi had great placement on one of her kills in the back right on the court to tie the match 11-11. A fake set by Branon’sfroze the BHS run and sparked BFA’s own. The Comets won ten straight serves to increase its lead to ten points. Burlington then helped the Comets by serving into the net to give the hosts a 25-17 win.
The Comets will travel down the Jericho to face off against the third-seeded Mt. Mansfield Cougars on Friday. The Comets lost in five sets to the Cougars during the regular season but are ready for a battle.
“When we played them in the regular season, we showed we could compete with them,” said coach Berthiaume. “They are a real good team, and we are going to have to bring our A-game. They are the three seed, and they earned it.”
Jaylin Bedard also commented on her team’s upcoming matchup against the Cougars.
“We are bringing the ‘believe’ with us,” said Bedard, referencing the team’s common chant and a mantra among Comet athletics. “We are going to go out there and play our hardest and hopefully come back with a win.”
Friday’s match is slated to start at 4:30 at Mt. Mansfield Union High School. Spectators are welcome and masks are required.
