Lady Hornets Make Unbelievable Comeback Against Foran

In the words of the late North Carolina State basketball coach, Jim Valvano, ​“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up,” and that’s what happened last week when the Branford girls volleyball team made an unbelievable comeback over SCC opponent Foran High School of Milford.

Some folks were probably thinking about leaving the Branford gym when the Lady Hornets were down 18 – 7 in the third game of the best of 5. They had lost the first two games by close scores 23 – 25 and 22 – 25 against the taller Lady Lions.

“I told them, there’s no way we can play this good and not win,” said coach Eva Esposito (pictured.) ​“I said you gotta believe.” The Hornets must have agreed with their coach and rallied to win the third game 25 – 23.

“Coming back from that deficit gave us confidence and we had the momentum to win the fourth game 25 – 23,” the coach said in an interview with the Eagle.

That forced the fifth and deciding game which the Hornets seemed to win with ease, 15 – 8, to close out the match 3 – 2.

It was a great comeback. Here are the Hornets celebrating an important point scored.

Senior Abby Atkinson (pictured) helped lead the Hornets with 5 Aces, 10 kills and 13 digs.

Junior Adrienne DiGioia (pictured) also played well with 2 Aces, 10 kills and 7 digs.

The win over Foran gave the Hornets a 2 – 0 record having also defeated Lyman Hall 3 – 1 in the season opener. Since then they lost to powerhouse Cheshire on Wednesday 3 – 0, bringing their record to 2 – 1. 

Others who played well for Branford were sophomore Haley Maercklein with 3 blocks and 3 kills and sophomore Erin O’Brien (pictured here) who led the Hornets with an amazing 23 assists.

Victory!

The next home game for the Lady Hornets is Saturday, Sept. 26 against Fairfield Warde H.S. at 3:15 pm.
 
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