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Ludlowe sweeps rival Warde
Large crowds don’t usually show up for regular season volleyball matches, but on Monday night in Fairfield, the masses had two good reasons. One was a great fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. The other?
Fairfield Warde facing off with Fairfield Ludlowe.
Ludlowe (12-1) easily handled the Mustangs 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-11) in front of a raucous near-capacity crowd. A trio of stars, Emily Nelson, Kelly Rotondo, and Casey Boatwright led the Falcons.
“Warde is always a great team, they’re really tough to play against,” Nelson said. “This win means that this is our town now, it’s Ludlowe’s town.”
Nelson was dominant from start to finish, especially during attack and service. She finished with nine kills and four aces on the day and intimidated Warde throughout the night. Ludlowe outscored Warde 17-3 in service aces.
Rotondo, the defensive stalwart, aided the offense with a whopping 26 of the team’s 28 assists. Boatwright, a 6-foot-3 junior, had three blocks and eight kills on just 10 attack attempts.
The chanting, cheering, and dueling crowds were a major factor from the beginning.
“The fans were amazing today, they really pumped us up,” Nelson said. “They make it so fun to play and we didn’t even notice Warde’s fans. It’s like they weren’t even here.”
Warde was led by Kaitlin McKenna who had a solid game at the net in the loss with four kills and three blocks.
The two schools, which bisect Fairfield, have a fantastic rivalry and it was on display during Dig Pink night. Pink was everywhere around the gym from Ludlowe coach Meghan Skelton’s skirt to Warde coach Matt Narwold’s bowtie. All proceeds at the door and the bake sale are headed to The Norma F. Pfriem Breast Cancer Center in association with Bridgeport Hospital.
The match itself was close early in the first two sets, but the depth of Ludlowe’s talent was too much and was evident right away.
“I knew we were going to be successful today before the game even started,” Rotondo said. “We had a good pep talk before the game and we were going to come out with the win no matter what.”
Email John Malone at jmalone@cablevision.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MSGV_Malone
