Plainfield - Fitch High School combined for 23 kills during Thursday's Eastern Connecticut Conference volleyball tournament final.

Ledyard had 20 kills just from tournament MVP Michelle Klinikowski.

Yep, it was that kind of night for the top-seeded Colonels as they blitzed their way to a second straight championship, 25-19, 25-10, 25-11 at Plainfield High. They turned what was supposed to be a competitive ECC final among Large Division rivals who split during the regular season into target practice with the No. 3 Falcons being sitting ducks.

Ledyard so dominated the match that its celebration was somewhat reserved compared to the norm.

"I think we were expecting it to go more games," said Klinikowski (match-high four aces). "If we stopped playing, then (Fitch) would've easily come back. ... Our team really did a good job stepping up."

Fitch coach Steve Banks said: "We deserved to get our fannies spanked tonight."

Fitch had uncharacteristic serve-receive and passing breakdowns that prevented it from running its attack.

Ledyard (20-1) had no such issues thanks to players such as Mariah Abstetar (20 digs). Her defense allowed Jenny Nohara to accumulate 37 assists, a crazy amount in a three-game match. And that allowed six-foot-plus hitters Madison Canestrari (19 kills, five blocks) and Klinikowski (five blocks) to run wild at the net.

"I think everybody wanted this win tonight," Klinikowski said. "We had some really good serving runs. Mariah had a couple that were great. Madison, Jenny, Juliana (Duben), everybody. I think that helped a lot because the last time we played them, we had a really off serving game. I think we missed 24."

Ledyard was also without Abstetar in its five-game loss at Fitch on Oct. 10. Abstetar, the Colonels' first team All-ECC Large Division defensive specialist, was on a college trip in Colorado.

"No excuses, but that was huge for us because she's so steady," Ledyard coach Rich Duwelius said. "She has tremendous court skills. She passes well. Her serving was very effective tonight. ... She's a real glue player for us."

Libero Nikki McComiskey and Abstetar helped keep the Colonels' defense running smoothly all match.

"It's a team effort," Abstetar said. "That was one of our best defensive games. We did a lot of really good communication. We talked things out. When we had problem areas in our serve-receive we were able to talk it through and get past it.

"Energy is a big part of it. I tend to be a giddy person on the court. I'm pretty happy and I think it's pretty contagious."

Mae Sefransky had 21 assists and Jen Severino 10 kills for Fitch (19-4).

"We couldn't pass the ball to save our lives," Banks said. "That was the difference. ... Mentally we just weren't ready to play tonight. We weren't ready to get Mae the ball where she needed it (to set).

"It gets contagious. It's kind of like making an error in baseball. Somebody makes a bad pass, and then all of a sudden, everybody is thinking about it. Then (Ledyard) starts hitting bombs, and then, before you know it, it's like an avalanche coming over here. It's tough to recover."

Ledyard hadn't gone through one full rotation when it led the first game 16-6.

Fitch was able to come back and tie that game at 19 before losing. It couldn't do that in the final two games, though. The Colonels went ahead by as much as 17-4 in Game 2 and 20-9 in the last game.

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED