WORCESTER —Facing a stout and familiar defense for the Division 3 girls’ volleyball title, Weston hoped to speed up its offense. Riley Huml was certainly up to the task.
The sophomore doled out 33 assists and added three kills in a 25-20, 25-17, 26-24 sweep of top-seeded Medfield Friday at Worcester State for the program’s first championship.
“It feels amazing, it feels like all the hard work our team has put in has paid off,” said Huml, who took on a bigger role this season after senior setter Kat Marchant was lost to injury. “I’m just really excited, I’m at a loss for words, it’s an amazing feeling.”
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Sophomore Nevaeh Yancey thought she was going to play nervously, but drew confidence during a pregame pep talk from coach Eileen Leblanc. She delivered two kills in the team’s four-point streak to fend off two set points from Medfield, before bashing the winner, in a 10-kill performance.
Nevaeh Yancy with the kill and @WestonAthletic is your D3 champion! 26-24 in the third set, Wildcats faced two set points pic.twitter.com/i9WuInxCgC
— AJ (@aj_traub) November 18, 2023
“It was a relief because it was getting tight,” Yancey said. “I knew we needed to do something immediately. I’m very happy that, being a sophomore, I got to do that. Not a lot of people get to do it. I feel very blessed and very privileged to be here.”
Junior Fielding Mayhugh smacked 15 kills and freshman Ellie Wilkins stepped up to record eight kills and a block from the middle.
“Coach [Leblanc] was talking to me before the game, saying how much I contribute, and it really helped,” Wilkins said. “Hearing how much I’ve worked for this reminds me what I’m here to do. I really think making this happen for the seniors is a dream come true for them.”
The Wildcats (20-5) split their regular season meetings with Medfield (23-2), each match reaching five sets. Carrying momentum from their semifinal win over Wakefield, Weston went on the attack and it paid off.
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“We’re pretty familiar with [Medfield],” Mayhugh said. “We’ve won sets against them, so we knew we could do it. We had to put it all out there and play aggressive.”
The Warriors’ only losses this season were to Weston, and it was after their first that Leblanc told Medfield coach Jerry Shu that these two teams would meet for the title.
“It’s kind of like a Cinderella season,” Shu said. “We never expected to make it this far. To win game after game and to make it to states, it’s kind of magical.
“Proud of these girls, they worked hard all season. I couldn’t ask for a better group.”
AJ Traub can be reached at aj.traub@globe.com.