Warriors fall to Peabody 3-1

THE SENIORS on the WMHS volleyball team were honored last night. Pictured from left to right is Marissa Patti (3) and her parents Tony and Kristen; Ally Coggswell (7) and her parents Laurie and Tim; Julia Brown (14) and her parents Jim and Justine; Nicole Catino (44) and her parents Sandi and Nicholas; and Julia Purcell (1) and her parents Tom and Andrea. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

Published in the October 24, 2017 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — It was Senior Night at the Charbonneau Field House last night for the WMHS volleyball team, as fans and teammates said thank you to a fantastic five senior spikers: Julia Brown, Nicole Catino, Ally Coggswell, Marissa Patti and Julia Purcell.

During the pregame ceremony, the Warriors gave a round of applause to the visiting Peabody seniors before having the underclassmen Warriors introduce their senior teammates. It was a well-deserved moment of gratitude towards a memorable class.

“They’re a really good group of kids,” said head coach Sasha Duprey who will remember fondly here first group of seniors as the coach at WMHS. “It’s really hard when you have a new coach especially as a senior. If they don’t get on board, and if we don’t see eye to eye and if we don’t communicate well then things won’t function well, but they bought in from day one. We spend a lot of time communicating about what a senior is and what a captain is, and they serve our team well. At practice, they’re the first ones in and the last ones out. I was fortunate that they were my group of seniors this year.”

The seniors led the Warriors out on the court against Peabody in what ended up being a very exciting four sets.

Peabody won the first 25-20. The two teams alternated points for much of the first part of the set. A Julia Brown kill cut the Peabody lead to 11-10, and an ace from Nicole Catino made it 13-12 Tanners. The Tanners took an 18-15 lead, forcing Duprey to call a timeout. The Warriors responded and a well-placed hit from Julia Purcell down the right sideline made it 21-18. Although Peabody would go on to win it, Wakefield stayed with the Tanners for most of the set, proving to themselves that they could compete with this team.

The Warriors kept up for most of the second set as well, until Peabody took control late and won it 25-16.

Staring at a 2-0 game deficit, the Warriors could have called it a night, but they came out battling in an electric third set.

The Warriors got some great hustle throughout the lineup to start the third game, which helped them jump out to an early lead before Peabody came storming back. A Purcell ace made it 8-7, and later an ace from sophomore Maddie Melanson made it 10-9. Junior Jaime Greatorex hit a cross-court shot from the right side of the floor for a kill and a 13-9 lead. Brown picked up another kill from the middle to make it 15-10 Warriors. Wakefield got a definitive spike from sophomore Rachel Danzig and after Coggswell’s fake pass that caught Peabody off guard and hit the floor for a Warrior point, the Tanners called a timeout at 18-12. The Tanners would come back and cut the lead to 20-18, which seemed to be a microcosm of the season as the Warriors work on consistency. Wakefield responded by putting together a well-executed bump, set and spike sequence that ended with a backwards pass from Coggswell to Greatorex for a 21-18 lead. After Peabody took the lead, Greatorex tied it at 23 with another kill, then hit a line drive on the ensuing serve for an ace. The Warriors won it 25-23 after a wicked rally with great hustle that ended on a cut shot kill from junior Eadeen Beck.

A back-and-forth fourth set saw both teams tied at 15 before the Tanners took control once again and brought a great match to an end with a 25-18 game win, and 3-1 match win.

“We are getting in long rallies, winning them and doing really good things,” said Duprey. “The consistency is coming. Its not 100 percent there yet, but we’re making good errors and the future looks bright.”

It was an encouraging performance from the Warriors who will continue to lean on their seniors for the final three games of the season, as they continue to build on an already lasting legacy.