LOWELL | Make no mistake about it, Lowell coach Kim Kilmer and the Red Devils are seeking to avoid a repeat of last season's unfortunate ending at the hands of Munster.
Lowell will get its chance for redemption in Saturday's semifinal against the Mustangs after the Red Devils made quick work of Morton 25-9, 25-10, 25-8 in the opening match of their own sectional Tuesday.
"Last year, we came up short (a five-game loss), and we're going to take it to them," Kilmer said.
"We're getting out of here this year with that trophy. That's the goal. We're not going to back down. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to accomplish that. If we show up, play our game and have the mental game that we need to have, we'll be fine."
Junior libero Chloe White knows the test will be difficult against Munster. Lowell won both previous regular-season matches with Munster in five games, with both teams alternating set victories in those matches.
"We're going to come out, play as a team and not worry about who's on the other side of the net," said White, who had five aces against Morton. "After coming off a match like this, we're really fired up."
Lowell's height advantage and experience at the net was too much for Morton (5-22) to handle. The Governor's lone lead of the match came in the third game, a 1-0 start. However, Lowell eventually jumped out to a 10-2 lead, an advantage too great for the Governors to contend with.
"We worked on aggressive serves, and we worked on covering a lot, too," Morton coach Anna Boyle said. "(Lowell) picks up a lot, and they have very aggressive hitters."
Lowell's hitters spread hitting attempts around effectively. Anna Sacco led the Red Devils (22-7) with eight kills, while Carissa Thiel and Jessica Sharkey contributed six kills each.
Despite the lopsided result of the match, Kilmer acknowledged her team still needs to work on some aspects of its game.
"When you play a team that's a little below you, you tend to ease up and do some standing around and watching," she said. "We've been struggling with that even against some of the better caliber teams."
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