Becca Stanton shined in her first chance at extended playing time against rival Quincy, and the North Quincy High School girls volleyball team dealt More

Becca Stanton shined in her first chance at extended playing time against rival Quincy, and the North Quincy High School girls volleyball team dealt the host Presidents their first loss of the season in a 3-0 victory. With the tense 25-23, 30-28, 25-14 victory, the Red Raiders (8-1 overall) grabbed sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast League standings at 6-0. Quincy (7-1) fell to 5-1 in the league. Stanton, a 6-foot middle blocker, was used more situationally as an underclassman with North Quincy's depth ahead of her. Now a senior captain along with Becca Goreham and Virginia Wong, she proved she can handle being one of her team's go-to players in a big match with 11 kills, 11 service points, six aces and two blocks. "I feel like everything was coming together for me -- it felt good," she said. "We really came together as a team, and this is one of the best games we've played." Stanton played particularly well in the first game, slamming a kill to bring her team within one at 19-20 and then serving off five straight service points, including four aces, to give the Raiders a 24-20 lead. Quincy senior Liz Bock led a charge for the Presidents with their backs against the wall to make it 24-23 and then dug a hard-hit Wong kill attempt before Wong smacked it back over emphatically to take the game. "We handled the stressful situations really well, and I think we just played an amazing match today," Stanton said. The Raiders' three captains, along with juniors Ashley Kostka and Kathleen Lynch and sophomore Rushri Wijesundera, helped North stay in a remarkable back-and-forth second game. Goreham converted four straight aces at one point and the team survived Presidents senior Mary Beth Torpey whacking back-to-back kills for a 24-23 lead enough to pull it out in extra points, 30-28, behind more clutch hitting from Wong. From there, the emotional letdown got to Quincy. Bock, captain Catey Santon and fellow senior Alicia Woodberry each played well at times in the third game, but the Raiders went on a 13-2 run to take an insurmountable 17-6 lead. "Quincy definitely played well enough to win either of those first two games," Raiders coach Kerry Ginty said. "They're a tough team to beat, and we knew we had to play our best game tonight and I think we actually did play the best we have all season." Knowing that was no consolation to Quincy coach Jacqui Niosi, who said she was "very disappointed" to feel her team wasn't 100 percent focused in an important match. "I told them I thought their attitudes weren't good tonight and I think we beat ourselves to a great extent during the match," she said. "The best news about that whole situation is it's all within your control, and it's your decision to come out on the court next time and pick it up -- there's a big difference between losing to an opponent and beating yourself. "We've got a core group of seniors that really wanted to grow and go far, and I think it's actually good for us to take a loss like this right now at this point of the season. I'd rather do it now than later in the season, just to get a little bit of a reality check." For now, though, the price of that reality check is waiting until Oct. 24 at North to get another shot at the Raiders, who are now 5-0 in the teams' meetings over the past three seasons. "It's huge to be able to come in here and play as well as we did," Ginty said. "We only get to see them twice and you have to have your best game both times. Right now, it's us and them at the top and this will give us an extra push, but I know it's going to come down to the end of the season." Tim Coughlin may be reached at tcoughlin@ledger.com.
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www.xwauniverse.com Dark Matches Quintin Hollis vs. Anthony Johnson Senor Uno vs. The Dark Knight Marvelous Meatloaph Brown vs. Cody Miller Haven vs. More

www.xwauniverse.com Dark Matches Quintin Hollis vs. Anthony Johnson Senor Uno vs. The Dark Knight Marvelous Meatloaph Brown vs. Cody Miller Haven vs. Erin Toughil BJ Hollywood vs. The Wolf Preliminary Matches Major X vs. Justin Mizanin Jason Strike Evans vs. James Knight vs. Jacob Moore X-Man vs. Suicide Viper Hardcore Brock vs. Tyson North Gage Norell vs. Greg S Jeff Hardy vs. Silent Assassin Main Card 1) Money in Hell Match for the Money in Hell Briefcase Tyler Lawson vs. Patrick Task vs. Mack vs. Gergory Vain vs. Jay Riddick vs. Headhunter 2) Cruiser X Championship CJ Hardy vs. Kenny Kasual 3) 3 on 2 Handicap Match Ashley Sky & Alison Green vs. Stacey Keibler, Taryn & Angel Love 4) Interbrand Battle Royal: Winner picks which brand he wants to go to in the XWA Draft. Crimson Tide vs. Rob Zigga vs. Akira The Hero vs. Kevin Blade vs. Kenyon vs. Sky Drifter 5) Ladder Match for the XWA Intercontinental Championship Xtreme Icon vs. Justin Lee Angel 6) Four Corners Of Pain Match: Winner receives a title shot at the title of her choice out of the Womens Championship or the Divas Championship Gothina vs. Amani Morrison vs. Caprice Marshell vs. Marissa Fox vs. Talia Lee vs. Kerri Faith 7) No DQ 60 Min Ironman Match 'Notorious' Megaman vs. McNugget 8 ) XWA Divas Championship Beth Jericho vs. Emerald 9) Tower Of Doom Match for the XWA Championship Ash Wheeler vs. Hall 10) Street Fight Match for the XWA International Championship HHH619 vs. Razor Xtreme vs. JKX 11) Holocaust Match <b>...</b>
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