WORCESTER — The Bourne volleyball team wasn’t going to be denied on Tuesday in the semifinals of the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament. 

Third-seeded Turners Falls earned a trio of state tournament wins to reach the semis, but knew it was going to have its hands full with the second-seeded Canalmen. 

Bourne’s defense was on point throughout the match, allowing just two total aces while consistently returning balls that the Thunder put over the net. The Canalmen raced out to an early lead to take the first set and repeated that in the second set before running away in the third set to walk away with a 3-0 sweep to earn a spot in the state championship match.

Bourne (19-5) will meet No. 1 Mt. Greylock in the title tilt at a date and time to be determined. 

“We were nervous to start,” Turners Falls coach Kelly Liimatainen said. “This is a place we’ve never been before. Bourne is an excellent team and they beat us tonight. They deserved to win.” 

Liimatainen noted that there was nothing for Turners to hang its hat on, knowing it took home a Western Mass. Class D title while reaching the semifinals for the first time under the new statewide tournament format. 

The loss also snapped a 15-match winning streak for the Thunder (20-3). 

“Making it to the semis this year is awesome,” Liimatainen said. “Even though we lost I’m super proud. We’ve been working hard since August. I’m sad that’s it’s over but I’m not sad with how we went out. We fought hard and they were the better team. They deserved to win tonight but I’m proud of my team.” 

For the Canalmen, it was all about playing their game and not worrying about the opponent. Still, when going up against players like the Turners’ Madi Liimatainen and Taylor Greene, finding a way to slow them down was a key to the gameplan heading in. 

“Once we got the nerves out we found a rhythm,” Bourne coach David Moore said. “We’re just going to play our game and see where it takes us. We knew about these guys, knew about [Madi Liimatainen] and [Taylor Greene]. We were kind of ready for them. They’re good. At least we were able to slow [Liimatainen] down a little bit which helped us a lot.” 

The Canalmen raced out to a 9-3 lead in the opening set following three straight aces from Elena Timo. Turners cut the lead to 15-7 before Bourne scored back-to-back points to gain a 17-7 lead. 

Liimatainen came up with a block and recorded two kills to cut the lead to 20-15 but the Canalmen scored five of the next six points, capping off the set with an ace from Lily Russell to earn a 25-16 win and take a 1-0 lead.

It put the Thunder in an unfamiliar spot, as it was the first set Turners had dropped since Sept. 29. 

The second set played out similarly to the first. Bourne took a 9-4 lead, Liimatainen cracked an ace and Greene put down a kill that helped cut the lead to 10-7. Leading 12-8 the Canalmen went on an 8-2 run to go ahead, 20-10, which ultimately proved to be the difference, helping Bourne take a 2-0 lead with a 25-14 set win. 

“It seemed like we couldn’t get ourselves out of a hole,” Kelly Liimatainen said. “I don’t think we had one ace all game. They’re a dominant team. Props to them and I hope they make a run in the finals.” 

Up 2-0, the Canalmen didn’t mess around in the third set. 

Bourne raced out to a 7-1 lead before ripped off six straight after holding a 16-8 advantage to go ahead, 22-8. Liimatainen put down a pair of late kills to keep the Thunder alive but a missed Turners serve sent the Canalmen to the finals with a 25-14 set win. 

While Bourne had a size advantage in the match, most notably with Sofia Halunen who finished with four aces and seven kills from the setter spot, it was mistakes on the Thunder side of the net that did them in. 

“The size didn’t really affect us at all,” Liimatainen said. “We had a couple good blocks on them. I think Madi got blocked once and she’s been blocked more than that this season. It was their serving that hurt us. We couldn’t pass the ball.” 

Liimatainen led the way with nine kills, three blocks and one ace in the loss. Greene tallied three kills, Janelle Massey finished with two kills and one ace while Tatiana Carr-Williams put down a kill for Turners.