LYNN — It was a strong showing for the St. Mary’s volleyball team Thursday, as the Spartans swept Lynn English, 3-0, to conclude the evening’s Lynn City Volleyball Tournament matches at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
The first set was comfortably controlled by the Spartans as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead. They went on to extend the lead to 14-7 before securing the first set victory.
Sophomore Elizabeth Fox was superb for St.Mary’s, securing five aces in the first set. Junior Macie Story also did well, scoring three aces. Fox finished the match with eight aces. Senior Molly Cummings also had a night to remember, tallying six digs.
Serving was an area of the game that head coach Mike McDuffee hoped to improve on prior to Thursday’s matchup. It’s safe to say he will be going home happy.
“I think that was ultimately the difference maker,” said McDuffee. “All of those sets were really won and lost on serves.”
The second set was a different story with the two teams trading points before English went up by a 9-6 score. However, the Spartans fought back and eventually regained the lead after tying the set at 16. The two sides continued to battle, exchanging points late in the set. The Bulldogs took a late lead, which resulted in the Spartans calling a timeout with the score at 23-22.
English head coach Mike Haddad stressed after the match that it was early in the season and that his squad was still looking to grow as a group.
“This team has got a lot of mix of juniors and seniors, some returning players and some new players,” he said. “I think a lot of it just came from the fact that they haven’t fully gelled as a team yet. Once they cement that idea of who’s doing what on the court, working well with each other. I thought they did a phenomenal job today and I think once they tighten up the game, they are going to be really surprising a lot of people.”
St Mary’s wound up taking the second set 27-25.
The third set began with the Spartans taking control with a 6-2 lead over the Bulldogs. English narrowed the lead to two points (8-6) but St. Mary’s added to the deficit, forcing a Bulldogs timeout with the score at 14-8.
The Spartans continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal, extending the lead to 10 points (20-10). They ultimately took the set at 25-16, concluding their shutout victory against English.
English (0-2) will face Tech in the city tournament consolation game Friday (TBD).
St. Mary’s (1-0) takes on Lynn Classical in the championship game of the Lynn City Volleyball Tournament Friday (TBD).