MARBLEHEAD — The Peabody volleyball team got off to a fast start and never looked back Tuesday evening, rolling to a 3-0 victory over Northeastern Conference foe Marblehead on the road. The Tanners won by set scores of 25-6, 25-20, 25-23.
“This was definitely a win we needed after starting off the year with two losses,” said Peabody coach Lisa Keene. “Marblehead is always a great team to play against, and it’s always nice to pull out a win against a tough NEC team.”
Allie Flewelling and Sarah Broughton were dominant on the service line, combining for 27 service points while each notching four kills as well.
“The girls played great out there, and it was really led by our serving,” said Keene. “We just got on a roll early and we were able to ride the momentum from there.”
Isabel Bettencourt had six kills and five aces, while Abby Bettencourt had 13 assists and three kills. Lauren Mendonca added four kills in the win.
For Marblehead, Lilah Thompson led the way with eight kills and Keira Sweetnam added seven kills. Caitlin Parkman had 12 assists in the loss, while Julia Potvin notched 19 serves.
“I think we just started out flat and were never really able to get into a groove,” said Marblehead coach Killeen Miller. “We struggled with our consistency and our communication still isn’t where it needs to be, and the results showed that.”
For Miller, the fact that her team was able to fight back after a tough start and keep getting better throughout the match was a positive sign.
“It’s definitely a good thing that we didn’t pack it in after that first set and we kept fighting,” said Miller. “But when you’re not playing consistently, those mistakes end up piling up and that’s what happened to us. We just couldn’t overcome the unforced errors.”
On the other side, Keene was glad to see her young team not get rattled when Marblehead was making its runs.
“We had a lot of girls cycling through and getting playing time, and everyone stepped up to keep us ahead,” said Keene. “You know a good team like Marblehead is always going to make a run, so I was happy with how we withstood the charge and held on to win.”
Marblehead (1-1) travels to Austin Prep Friday (5).
“I think one of the big things for us is we need to change things up on offense to be able to score more,” said Miller. “We need to be able to terminate the ball from anywhere on the floor, so we’re going to work on some things in practice and see if we can make something happen.”
Peabody (1-2) hosts Swampscott Friday (5:30) for its first home game of the season.
“We’re so excited to get back out there in front of our home crowd and hear those cheers,” said Keene. “It’ll be so nice to have friends and family there to support us, and hopefully we can come out with another good effort.”