Wildcats make it 4-for-4

Norwich - Everything that Bill Howard feared about Thursday's CIAC Class LL second-round match against Fitch was coming true.

Howard, Norwich Free Academy's volleyball coach, didn't want to play his team's Eastern Connecticut Conference rival so early in the tournament as he didn't one of them to knock the other out.

Furthermore, Howard was worried about playing the Falcons for a fourth time this fall after winning the first three matches.

NFA got all it could handle from Fitch and had to rally from two games down to win 24-26, 25-11, 21-25, 25-13, 15-11 at Alumni Gym.

"The laws of averages are against you," Howard said. "(Fitch is) such a good team. They played us tough all year long; you just don't want to have to play a team like that, a team that knows you so well."

Fifth-seeded NFA (19-3) advanced to play at No. 4 Shelton in Saturday's quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

The No. 12 Falcons (16-7) played their best match in their series with NFA. First, they rallied from a 19-11 deficit to win Game 1.

Fitch came from six points behind to win Game 3, too.

"I'm very proud of the ways my girls played," Falcons coach Steve Banks said. "They played with Falcon Pride all the way down the stretch. They didn't give up. (We) got beat by a good team, not a better team, I don't think. We got beat by a good team."

The Wildcats were also worried about a role reversal with Fitch. They lost the first three meetings against the Falcons last season, but came back from a 2-1 game deficit to beat Fitch in the LL final.

"All throughout the day," NFA's Jen Escobido (28 assists, six kills) said, "we were like, 'oh, my God, law of averages. Here we go again. We beat them last year after they beat us three times. We were like, 'Oh, jeez, let's not let this happen again this year with them beating us.'

"Fitch wasn't backing down, I'll tell you that. They came to play."

The Wildcats also passed uncharacteristically poor in the first and third games.

"I said, 'Listen, we've played 15 games with these guys, you've won 10 of them," Howard said. "'You're the better team. You've proven that all year long. Go out there and play like it.' And they did. They kept fighting."

NFA took a 5-0 lead in Game 5 with Meaghan Doyle having five of her 12 kills during that run. She also finished with 16 digs.

"If you get the points right off the bat, it's all a game of momentum, so they can't get it back," Doyle said. "Get the first five and it's hard to get it back."

The Falcons didn't go away and trailed 13-11 with the serve, but NFA's Kastine Evans (22 assists, 19 kills) tipped the ball over for match-point and the serve.

A Fitch error gave the Wildcats the match.

Sophomore Jacqueline Lockett had 35 assists for Fitch and senior Courtney O'Hara (17 kills, three aces) played a tremendous match in defeat.

"(O'Hara) played her best match of the year Monday night, and she stepped it up again tonight," Banks said. "She's one of the best players around. I feel bad for her. Her career is over."

n.griffen@theday.com