HARTFORD – The Coventry volleyball team had beaten Canton, its Class S championship game opponent, twice before Friday night. But in the third set, the Patriots struggled to put away the feisty Canton squad.
Enter Abby Polo. A senior setter, four-year starter, Polo stepped up to serve with Coventry trailing by six at set point. Polo served out the set and top-seeded Coventry (23-3) regrouped to win its 13th state championship, 3-0 (25-15, 25-9, 26-24) at SMSA Friday night.
Polo, who had 28 assists, nine aces and 28 serving points, was named the game’s MVP.
“It means so much,” Polo said. “In the last set, coming back from that deficit was really important. It just shows our grit and our fight. I’m so proud of this team.”
Junior Teia Ransford led Coventry with 13 kills, senior Brooke Blouin had eight and sophomore Hailey Mayo – who won her second state title after she helped the Patriots to a Class S basketball championship last winter – had five kills.
“We were down but we didn’t feel like we were down and we knew we would come back,” Mayo said. “I don’t think anyone thought we were going to a fourth set. Abby going on her serving run, that was incredible.”
Coventry had beaten 10th-seeded Canton (17-8) twice, 3-0 in the regular season and 3-0 again in the NCCC tournament semifinal. The first two sets were fairly uneventful for Coventry but the Patriots lost their momentum in the third. They trailed from the start and had a nine-point deficit, 19-10, at one point.
“We know it’s hard to close this team out,” Coventry coach Ryan Giberson said. “Canton beat some really good teams on the way. We missed a couple serves, made some inopportune passes but honestly, in my brain, at 24-18, I was like, ‘Just give Abby a shot.’ When it gets to 21, 22, the momentum changes and I’m really proud of how our kids played to win. They really went for it there.
“(For Abby) to come out in the third set, down, 24-18, to not even miss – and serve aggressive, our defense locked in. It’s who she is, who’s she’s been for four years.”
Coventry won the title when Polo was a sophomore (when she was also named the game’s MVP) but lost to Valley Regional last year in the final.
“We did not want to experience that again,” Polo said. “We knew how it felt and we also, the previous year, we knew how it felt to win. And we were like, ‘We’re ready to win.’”