The Southern Alliance Lightning volleyball team won the New England Regional Volleyball Association 5 Tournament held in Norfolk last week with a record of 10-0. The team comprised of girls from the South Shore beat teams from all over New England by playing great defense and transition offense. This was especially important because of the absence of their leading blocker, Duxbury’s Michela North.

“Our team has been a great blocking team all season, but we knew going into the tournament that without Michela and Hannah our defense really had to step up,” said Coach Alex.

Step up they did with outstanding defensive play from Hogeland, Turok, McSherry, Koch and Gallagher.

Coach Puatu added, “The defense really enabled Duxbury’s Allie Puatu to run the offense and set up great kills for our hitters.”

Middle and right side blockers Quilty, Hughes, and Klass completed the defense by doing a great job of patrolling the net. Volleyball is a new varsity sport to Duxbury, but the commitment of almost 30 Duxbury girls ages 12 - 16 to playing club volleyball will pay dividends in years to come.

“My other daughter Cassidy is one of five Duxbury girls who play for our 12 and Under club team coached by my wife, Sandy, and they also finished in first place this weekend,” said Coach Puatu.

“I’ve always been a big fan of club volleyball,” he said. “You build great friendships and form a team with girls who play for their respective schools. Then during the high school season, you become fierce competitors. I think the name ‘Southern Alliance’ is so appropriate for a club. It’s an alliance of great volleyball players representing the South Shore.”