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Sports

Cheshire Sweeps Past Lewis Mills

Rams Volleyball takes down Spartans 3-0 behind Howard, Bahgat and Philcox.

The Cheshire boys volleyball team put on another mostly dominant performance in its seventh sweep in eight games Wednesday night at home.

The Rams knocked off Class M defending champion Lewis Mills-Burlington 3-0 with game scores of 25-11, 25-19, 25-15.

Cheshire simply outnumbered Mills in powerful hitters and the Rams' play at the net was particularly strong with junior Nate Howard (12 kills, four aces) and senior captains Joe Bahgat (10 kills) and K.C. Philcox (12 kills, two blocks).

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The performance pleased Cheshire coach Sue Bavone, all except the second game.

"The first game was excellent. We came out the way we wanted to," Bavone said. "But then the second game we sort of sat on our heels a little bit and tried to coast through the match. Lewis Mills has a strong tradition. They're defending state champs. I don't care how many they graduate or who's playing. They're well-coached. They're going to be tough.

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"So I was really upset with the way we played that second game. I wanted us to come back with a little more motion, a little more communication, a little more fire. We did a little bit in the third game, but not like the first. That's something we're struggling with right now. Having that intensity through the whole game."

Cheshire (8-0) never trailed in the match and was only tied once at 2-2 in the second game.

The Rams quickly took a 10-3 lead in the first game, then extended it to 15-5 and 23-8 dominating at the net with Howard getting four of his kills, Philcox three and Bahgat two.

Game Two was in sharp contrast as Mills (2-4) hung with the Rams early trailing by 5-4, 9-7 and 11-9 before the Rams opened it to 15-10 and then 19-11. Mills cut it to 20-17 but Cheshire responded with a five-point lead at 22-17 before finishing it by six, 25-19.

Mills received its best play from Eric Woodcock (10 kills, four digs) and Nick Visini (seven digs, 27 assists).

"We just had more offensive weapons than they did," Bavone said. "We had more guys that can hit. Our defense played pretty well. We got a lot of balls up. When we were applying pressure steadily we pressed their passers a little bit to make some passes and it was a little tougher for them."

The third game was close early with Cheshire up 10-8, but the Rams methodically pulled away as Bahgat at one point served nine consecutive points to open the lead from 13-11 to 22-11. Cheshire closed it out fairly easily from there.

"It's about the communication," Bahgat said. "We have to stay loud throughout the entire match. We've had a little trouble throughout the year with Game Two because we come out the first game and if we win we think we have an easy game to go, but it's really not that way because anything can happen. We really need to stay loud throughout the match and keep our intensity up."

Cheshire hosts Maloney Friday at 6 p.m., then is at Xavier-Middletown Monday in what we likely be one the Rams' toughest matches so far this season.

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