HANOVER — The Hanover High volleyball team battled hard at home on Thursday night, but ultimately its season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the NHIAA Division II tournament at the hands of Gilford, 3-1.
After the No. 5 seed Golden Eagles took the first set 25-20, the No. 4 seed Bears responded with their own 25-20 win to tie things up. However, Gilford bounced back after the second frame and won the remaining sets 25-18 and 26-24 to take the match.
In the loss, Hanover had strong offensive performances from senior Bella Poisson (4 aces, 14 kills), junior Nour Tannous (2 aces, 8 kills, 1 assist), senior Esther Skogerboe (6 kills), and senior Sage Fargher (1 ace, 3 kills, 23 assists).
“Obviously, not the outcome we expected or wanted, but I’m so proud of them. They played their absolute hearts out,” said head coach Avery Kretschmar, who just finished her first season at the helm for the varsity team after coaching JV for three seasons.
She singled out Gilford’s Sydney Boudreau as a hard-to-defend player.
“We made so many good adjustments tonight. But unfortunately, it just comes down to only one team can make it,” Kretschmar said. “But overall, I’m so proud of them because this is the season that they deserved for sure.”
The match’s first set was a tightly contested affair, with Hanover holding small leads for most of the first portion.
But with the set tied 13-13, Gilford began to pull away, winning eight of the next 10 rallies to take the lead 21-15. Hanover tried to get back in it with strong play from Poisson, coming as close as four points, but ultimately fell 25-20.
It was a reversal of fortunes for the Bears in the second set. After the Golden Eagles took small leads early, the Bears tied it up at 11-11.
Hanover then took a lead it would not relinquish, stretching it to seven at 20-13, headlined by an offensive outburst from Tannous.
Gilford pulled within two at 22-20, but a kill from Poisson, along with the Golden Eagles’ inability to return a hit from Fargher and a serve from senior Casey Wilkinson, gave the Bears the set win.
Hanover led just once in the third set after Gilford’s opening serve went into the net, but the Golden Eagles took command, building a lead as high as seven at 13-6 and eventually winning the set by that seven-point margin, 25-18, to take a 2-1 match lead.
With their season on the line, the Bears fought. After falling behind 17-12, Skogerboe’s strong play at the net, a couple of balls hit out by Gilford, and a Tannous serve that could not be returned tied the fourth set at 17-17.
After the Bears’ rally, the Golden Eagles steadied themselves and took a 24-21 lead. But at match point, Hanover scored three straight from sophomore Eila LaHaye, Fargher, and Tannous to tie it.
That was as close as the Bears would come, though, as Gilford took the last two points of the set to win the match and advance in the playoffs.
“Their middle is such a strong player, and they have their right side, who you don’t see a ton of really strong right sides in Division II, and just like New Hampshire volleyball in general. And it’s hard to defend something you don’t get to play against often,” Kretschmar said.
Later adding: “Like I said, we played our best, and if our best wasn’t going to be enough tonight, then have the cards fall.”
While the Bears will lose several strong seniors to graduation, Hanover’s future remains bright.
“We have such a strong junior class and a really strong sophomore class coming up. So definitely not the end of Hanover volleyball in the playoffs,” Kretschmar said.
