AUBURN — Falmouth may have started slow against Edward Little in Thursday’s Class A volleyball preliminary-round playoff match, but the ninth-seeded Navigators soon found their footing and dispatched the eighth-seeded Red Eddies, 3-0.

Falmouth (8-7) advances to face top-seeded Scarborough (13-1) in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Saturday in Scarborough.

The Navigators returned to Class A this season after they dropped down to Class B for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

“It’s good to win any prelim in Class A; coming up from Class B, they played great,” Falmouth coach Larry Nichols said.  “I think they brought it to us. We were slow adjusting, much slower than we wanted. We did adjust eventually. … I think there were a little nerves going on, having played here at this beautiful facility. Eventually we got our mojo back a little bit and took care of some issues.”

Edward Little ends its third season as a varsity program with a 10-5 record and its second straight appearance in the preliminary round. The Red Eddies lost to Deering last year.

Edward Little played most of the season without junior outside hitter Sarah Ebersole, who was sidelined from the sixth game on because of an ankle injury.

“I think that she brings a lot of heart and a lot of the aces and the hard hits,” Red Eddies coach Kristi Gordon said. “When you don’t have all of those consistent ways to bring the spirit up on the court, then it’s harder to bring that energy.”

HOW FALMOUTH WON

• The Navigators won the first set, 25-23. They started with three straight points, but Edward Little scored the next four. The Red Eddies again took the lead at 8-7 and held it until Falmouth tied it at 23-23. Then senior Julia Young’s two consecutive aces secured a one-set lead for the Navigators. 

“For me, I’m usually a spot server, so I’m looking to see if there’s any gaps,” Young said. “I only started finally being able to do that in the second and third set, so I would say that when I get an ace, I feel very intelligent. I feel like I’ve cracked the code in a way, like I’ve suddenly achieved nirvana.” 

• In the second set, Falmouth took over the lead at 4-3 and didn’t relinquish it for the remainder of the set, winning 25-16. Senior Abby Shaw did most of the serving for the Navigators in the second set and found success by finding the weak spots on Edward Little’s side.

“I think our communication just kept growing through the game,” Shaw said. “It just got better and better, which is why we ended up winning. We weren’t playing to the best of our abilities, and (Nichols) told us that. We knew we had to get it back together.”

• Falmouth finished off the victory by taking the third set, 25-14. Nichols said the underclassmen stepped up and made big outside hits and blocks. One of those underclassmen who made an impact was freshman Rosie Clement, who took over as the starting libero when Young moved to outside hitter midway through the season. 

“For a freshman libero, could not be happier, because sometimes that doesn’t always go hand in hand,” Nichols said. “(Clements) is like having a four-year former Division-I player hanging around. She’s calm, cool, collected … so I’ll appreciate having her wisdom on the court, for sure.”

STAR SETTER 

Nichols said Falmouth struggled to hit the ball over the net, despite strong setting by Shaw. 

“(Shaw) kept them available when they probably weren’t ready to hit the ball, but she just hung in there with them, kept them going,” Nichols said. “She was worth her weight in gold.”

SOPHOMORE STANDS OUT

Sophomore defensive specialist and hitter Elizabeth Galway was strong in defeat for Edward Little, serving three aces along with several digs and hits at key moments.

“She’s a really consistent player. She plays all-around, she has great serves, she’s an amazing digger, she hits, and she’s smart when she hits,” Gordon said. “She’s just very consistent, very relied upon.”

THEY SAID IT

• “I’m most proud of (the team), for not … not imploding further into the abyss, with the number of young players. I was proud of the older kids for keeping it up, and I was proud for the younger ones for getting in line and coming together and starting to play like we can toward the end there, that second half of the second and third set started to be more like (what) we were hoping to be.” — Larry Nichols, Falmouth coach

• “Nellie Feeney had an amazing serving game today, and any ace, any kill and any block, let’s be real, I think it fires up everybody.” — Kristi Gordon, Edward Little coach