LYNNFIELD — The No. 2 Lynnfield volleyball team took on a Merrimack Valley Conference powerhouse, No. 7 Tewksbury, Monday in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 North tournament, and powered its way to a 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-21) win.
With the win the Pioneers punched their ticket Thursday’s sectional semifinal at Stoneham High, where they’ll take on the winner of Tuesday’s match between No. 19 Wayland and No. 11 Melrose.
“A lot of thinking and strategy went into this match. We knew Tewksbury had swept Andover and Andover and was a very good team,” said Lynnfield coach Brent Ashley. “I have no idea how a team like Tewksbury can be a No.7 seed but I thought this one of our better efforts this year. We played from behind at times but I told them after the match that they played from behind like crazy.”
The Pioneers led by as many as six, 9-3, in the first set, but Tewksbury went on a 12-5 run to take its first lead, 15-14, after a Lynnfield error. With the set tied at 17-all and Ashley Pagliuca (14 digs) serving, Lynnfield ran off five straight points, the first coming thanks to a couple of incredible digs by Sofia Ciriello (to keep the 18th point alive), a Sam Lebruska cross-court winner, two aces and a Tewksbury hitting error to make it 22-17. Tewksbury won the next three points to close to within two but Lynnfield closed out the set with a Sophia Wilkinson ace sandwiched around a couple of Tewksbury hitting errors to take a one-set lead.
The second set was tight, with neither team leading by more than three points. The Pioneers’ backs were up against the wall, however, trailing 24-21 after a monster kill by Allison Wild. But the Pioneers ran the table, taking the last five points of the set to take a two-set lead. Melissa Morelli got things started with a big cross-court kill, then a Tewksbury error and another cross-court winner by Morelli made it 24-24. Lebruska (9 kills) kept the next point alive with a a huge dig, leading to another hitting error, then Morelli tapped a soft winner to put set away, 26-24.
Tewksbury led early in the final set, and took its largest lead at 13-9 after a Pioneers’ miss. Lynnfield then ran off six straight points (five on Ciriello’s serve) to take a 15-13 lead. Tewksbury closed to 20-19. Three straight Tewksbury misses put Lynnfield up 23-19 but the best Tewksbury could do was trade the next four points, securing the set and match for the Pioneers.
“We came out blasting in the first set, then when they pushed back and the campfire was open in the second set, we tried to exploit that,” said Ashley. “But we had trouble keeping the ball out of the middle, the middle seems to be our comfort zone, but their 91 (Emily Butler) could dig like nobody’s business.”
Ashley said the unsung hero in the match was Ciriello.
“She had a contusion injury and was expected to miss two to three weeks, so we took away the libero jersey, which I felt badly about,” Ashley said. “She came back much sooner than expected but I’ve been very delicate with her play time, but tonight she was, hands down, the key to the match. She played some great volleyball tonight.”
Sam DeGeorge (4 blocks, 5 kills), the sole senior on the squad, also played well in her final match on the Lynnfield High hardwood.
“She’s playing with more confidence every day, and that’s why you saw her using more power and going for more shots tonight,” Ashley said.