The Burlington High volleyball team enjoyed another successful season in 2022, qualifying for the state tournament before a thrilling 3-2 loss in the first round of the state tournament against Milton at BHS.
Burlington won the first set of the playoff match, lost the next two, captured set No. 4 and then led 9-4 at one point in the winner-take-all fifth set before the Wildcats rallied to win 15-12 and advance to the second round.
“I think the seniors really stepped up, knowing this could be our last game,” said Olivia Miliano, the program’s junior varsity coach and the co-head coach for the varsity for the tournament match. “Fifth sets are really tough. It comes up on you really quick. We fought hard and I hope the girls are proud of how they did. They played really hard against an incredible team. Hats off to (Milton), they played really well.”
Milton was swept by top-seeded Westborough in its next match. Westborough eventually cruised to the Div. 2 state championship with five straight 3-0 victories.
The Red Devils went 16-4 during the regular season, another solid campaign for BHS.
In the tournament match, Burlington dominated the opening set.
Up 4-3, Burlington went up 9-4 after an ace by freshman Ula Rinkeviciute and two more by sophomore Grace Seaman. A kill and two service winners by senior Chloe Abuto helped push the lead to 13-5.
The Devils had big defensive contributions from Seaman, Rinkeviciute and sophomore Karina Boyadjiev.
Rinkeviciute had an excellent game at setter while junior Keira Riley and Seaman added kills as BHS won the opener, 25-14.
Milton led the second set by an 11-6 score and was up 14-10 before the Red Devils called a timeout.
Out of the break, BHS scored six straight points to take the lead, all on Abuto’s serve.
A good serve by senior Resha Thevaruban put the Red Devils up 19-18, but the Wildcats rallied behind the big hitting of junior Ava Regan, outscoring Burlington 7-2 the rest of the way to tie the match.
Milton led 5-0 to start set No. 3 and never gave up the advantage.
BHS slowly fought back behind solid serving from senior Mia Abramo and Boyadjiev, whose three straight service points cut Milton’s lead to 14-12.
Senior Molly Shea then took over for the visitors with four big kills down the stretch.
The ‘Cats eventually won the third set, 25-19, to take a 2-1 lead.
Milton took a 7-3 lead early in the fourth game, but this time Burlington stormed back to the tie the match at two.
A combined block by sophomore Emily Andriolo and Rinkeviciute started the rally and Abramo’s serving was good for four consecutive points and force a Wildcat timeout with BHS in front, 8-7.
The score of the set would be tied 10 times before Abramo went back to the service line with the score knotted at 19. Her serve led to a kill by Seaman to make it 20-19 and Abramo’s ace pushed the lead to 21-19 and forced another Milton timeout.
The Red Devils closed the set with a kill by Seaman, a nifty touch shot by Abuto and a service ace by Seaman for a 25-22 victory.
In the fifth set, which is played only up to 15, Boyadjiev started the game with three straight points on her serve.
A Seaman kill and back-to-back aces by Rinkeviciute put the Devils up 6-2.
Senior Isabella Kasparian’s kill gave the home team a 9-4 advantage before Milton started a dramatic comeback.
A kill by Regan and three straight service points by junior Mary Kathryn Maloney cut the lead to 9-7.
Abuto’s vicious kill kept BHS in front and another hit by Kasparian put the Red Devils in front, 11-9. A Riley block led to Abramo’s well-placed shot gave the Red Devils their final lead, 12-11, before Milton scored the last four points of the evening with senior Grace Ryan serving it out.
“That was a crazy match,” said Milton coach Al Mirabile, “especially against a team like this, at home with these fans in this kind of environment. It really showed a lot of character by our kids. Burlington is a really good team. (Abuto) is phenomenal, the outside hitter (Seaman) is phenomenal and the setter (Rinkeviciute) was unbelievable. It was a good 50-50 game and it went what it should have gone, which was five sets.”
The loss was the final high school match for BHS seniors Abramo, Kasparian, Thevaburan and Abuto.
BHS head coach Wingsze Seaman missed the match while recovering from a bout of Covid, but assistant coaches Emily Miliano and Olivia Miliano took the reigns and nearly pulled off quite a victory.
“It’s a young team,” Emily Miliano said. “We have four seniors graduating. Some big shoes to fill next year, but it’s a young team that we can hopefully build and mold for the years coming.”
