Champions: SEC title wins for two Dartmouth High teams

Nov 17, 2020

The Fall 1 season has come to a close, and for two of Dartmouth High’s teams, it was a very successful ending: the girls soccer team and the undefeated girls volleyball team are both conference champions.

After beating Bridgewater-Raynham 2-0 on Nov. 16, the girls soccer team is the top team in the Southeast Conference.

The girls had previously lost to the Trojans 1-0 on Oct. 21, and tied 2-2 to end the regular season Nov. 6. 

“I told [assistant coach] Jeff Hoyle that we might not win the first games, but we’re going to win the one that counts,” Head Coach Scot Boudria said.

The key to victory, he said, was keeping disciplined. Boudria noted that previous games against Bridgewater-Raynham would usually go the Trojans’ way because of penalties that lead to direct kicks.

“One of the things I constantly told [the girls] during time outs was not to take penalties,” he said. “You can’t do that against a team like Bridgewater, because they execute really well.” 

While the girls did maintain their discipline — only having four penalties — Boudria said there was a big one, that thankfully led to the ball hitting the goal post.

“That was real fortunate,” he said. “The tide could have easily turned.”

Thankfully, he said, the tide remained and Dartmouth High ended things with a championship.

Meanwhile, the school’s volleyball team’s undefeated season has ended with an SEC title of their own.

After beating Bridgewater-Raynham in three sets on Nov. 12, Dartmouth clinched its second straight conference title following an undefeated regular season — the second in as many years.

It feels awesome to win back to back,” Head Coach Rachel Lassey said, adding that since the new conference was set up in 2019 the goal for her teams was to try and win the SEC every year. “So far so good.”

While the scoresheet shows the final game ending 3-0, the match was certainly closer than it appeared with each set consisting of back-and-forth rallies.

Senior libero Hannah Bouvier said the main way the squad was able to pull out ahead in these rallies was simply by trusting each other. 

“We all have the mindset on the court, and having the same goal to win each rally while communicating with each other is the reason we had the successful end result of winning,” she said. 

Bouvier added that pulling off an undefeated run during a shortened season was easily one of her biggest highlights of her high school career.

“It feels amazing coming out on top, I’m so thankful for the life long friends and memories I have made within these past four years — they have truly become my extended family,” she said.

Fellow senior Jaime Hall, a setter, agreed.

“I'm so glad to have been a part of the DVB family these past four years,” she said. “We overcame the difficulties that came with the Covid Restrictions and the relationships I was able to develop with my coaches and teammates will last a lifetime.”

Lassey noted that she was especially proud of this title because of how hard her team worked to overcome a pandemic, game restrictions, completely different school structure and come together to “play hard and not let anything stand in their way.” 

“There is no going backward in my mind, and I think when you give your players the confidence to do that, they will rise to the challenge,” she said.