PEABODY — The Peabody volleyball team got off to a fast start Thursday and then outlasted visiting Northeastern Conference rival Winthrop in a back-and-forth 3-0 win on Senior Night. The Tanners won by set scores of 25-9, 25-19 and 25-22.
“Obviously, we started our seniors and they came out absolutely charged up,” Peabody coach Lisa Keene said. “In the second and third sets, things started to get a little lazy and we made some substitutions that didn’t click for us.”
Middle hitters Sophia Hollingshed and Maggie Brennan led the way, combining for 17 service points and eight aces. Destinee Callisto had four kills. Libero Maggie Bena, along with outside hitters Sam Silva, Maria Chouinard and Lily Ryan, also played well.
Before the game the Tanners honored their eight seniors — Bena, Brennan, Chouinard, Callisto, Sophia Hollingshed, Thelma Hollingshed (scorekeeper), Ryan and Silva — for their contributions to the program.
“I’d say we have a group of seniors with great leadership,” said Keene. “They’re a kind, caring group and they’re great role models for our underclassmen. Even when they’re not playing, they do a great job supporting the team. A lot of them have really come alive in the last half of this season.”
For Winthrop, Carolyn Kinsella and Caroline Earl led the way for a Vikings team that played some solid defense against a relentless offensive attack for the Tanners. Elle English and Meghan Goudge also played well while Katie Gagno had a strong service and offensive game. Winthrop seniors Adyana Barbarisi, Xhona Kokoneshi, Gagnon, Kinsella and Earl were also recognized before the game.
“We definitely started off a little slow, which happens with us when we see a team and we’re adjusting to the way they play,” Winthrop co-coach Rachel DelSolio said. “Once we saw them, we made some adjustments that helped. It didn’t end the way we wanted, but there were some good things to see defensively.”
Peabody started the night on an amazing run. The Tanners got off to a 6-0 start before Winthrop got a pair of points back. Then, with Brennan serving and racking up several aces, Peabody couldn’t be stopped, jumping out to a 17-2 lead midway through the first set. Winthrop started to improve towards the end of the set but it was far too big a whole to dig out of and the Tanners went ahead 1-0.
The Vikings settled in right away in the second set, and both teams battled to a 9-9 tie. Bena helped Peabody distance itself with a pair of aces and the Tanners kept that slim lead midway through the set to go ahead 18-15 later on. But the Vikings were resilient, and Jessica Soares added an ace of her own to help tie things up at 18-18.
Peabody responded with a four-point run, led by a kill and two aces from Abby Bettencourt, to go ahead 22-18. The Tanners never led by less than three the rest of the way and closed things out to go ahead 2-0.
The third set was truly a battle, with nine different ties and five lead changes throughout. Winthrop started things off, jumping out to a 5-1 lead thanks to some nice serving from Earl. But it wasn’t long before Peabody crawled back into things and took a 10-6 lead.
Winthrop responded with a comeback of its own, and after a series of ties, went on a run to go ahead 20-17 before a Peabody timeout. The break helped the Tanners settle down and Peabody went on a 8-2 run the rest of the way, with Sarah Broughton’s ace clinching the 3-0 win.
Peabody (6-3) hosts Northeastern Conference foe Masconomet Tuesday (5:30).
Winthrop (3-5) visits Swampscott in a make-up game Monday (5:30).