LHS cruises past H-W, Tewksbury

Published November 7, 2018

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

LYNNFIELD — What’s that line about defense and championships?

Whatever it is, the LHS volleyball team probably has it written down somewhere.

The No. 2 Pioneers cruised past CAL foe Hamilton-Wenham 3-0 in the first round of the Div. 2 North State Tournament on Saturday. Much like their previous two matches this year, Lynnfield didn’t have many headaches against the Generals as they cruised to three straight-set wins of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-7.

Captain Melissa Morelli led the charge with 12 kills, three aces and 15 assists. Samantha Lebruska added 10 kills and 11 digs. Mac Schena had eight kills. Ashley Pagliuca had 12 digs. Sophia Wilkinson had 22 assists.

The win set up Lynnfield’s final game at LHS this season as they hosted No. 7 Tewksbury on Monday night.

The familiarity wasn’t there for either team as they tested different strategies and adjusted throughout.

The Pioneers put Tewksbury’s back line on their toes with some strong kills from Morelli who finished with a team-high 16. One of those power shots halted the away team’s momentum and made it 16-15 Tewksbury in the first. Lebruska followed up with a kill to tie it and the Pioneers regained the energy of a packed student section and went toe-to-toe with kills from DeGeorge and Lebruska preceding two aces from Ashley Pagliuca to take control late in the set.

Lynnfield’s offensive strategy in the first helped set them up for more success in the second. 

“First set we decided to blast them and hit nothing but hard cross and that opened up in the second set as they pushed back and opened up their campfire which is how Melissa was able to see a lot of those open spots,” said Lynnfield head coach Brent Ashley. “We had to try and trick their defense to playing deep line.”

If you’re like me and wondering what a “campfire” means in volleyball, Ashley describes it as a bad metaphor for a shot that falls in between the back line and the front line. It usually results in multiple players diving towards each other. The ball, sitting dead in the middle is the fire. 

As such, Lynnfield’s heat in the first set turned into more intelligent shots in the second as they looked for those soft spots to set up some kindling.

It was perhaps a better suited style for Tewksbury who looked like they would tie it up when the score was at 24-21. Morelli responded with a big hit to make it 24-22, an error cut the lead to one and Morelli, with chants of MVP raining down from Pioneer superfans, rocked a monster kill to tie it at 24.

It was the loudest point of the season.

Tewksbury head coach Allie Luppi called for time, a strategy of stemming tides that worked well for her team all game, but the Pioneers had to much steam. Morelli finished it for a 26-24 win. All told, it was five straight points to end the set.

“She didn’t even have her greatest game,” said an amused Ashely of Morelli. “They served so well at us that we couldn’t get a good free ball. She was able to read the defense and figure out where the hole was. She’s just such a smart player.”

All this talk about offense. Obviously, you have to hit well to win. But so many times this season, the Pioneers have discouraged teams and controlled sets with their defense. You can run a perfectly executed play and still see a diving Pioneers with a big dig. That’s hard to come back from.

“They played phenomenal defense,” said Luppi of the Pioneers. “We hit hard at them, we tipped, we mixed it up and they were able to pick it up. They didn’t make a lot of mistakes either so our girls had to really earn every single point.”

Leading the excavation for the Pioneer defense was Sofia Ciriello who had an astounding 24 digs.

Coach Ashley said the usual libero was still rehabbing an elbow injury so the Pioneers had Pagliuca wear the blue jersey, but Ciriello proved to be just fine as she squared up every big Tewksbury hit and covered a ton of ground for the back line.

“Her digging,” said Ashley with a shake if his head, “It was just textbook.”

Pagliuca added 14 digs and Morelli had 14 assists.

Part of that comeback in the second set was thanks to a kill from DeGeorge whose four blocks really stood out and adds to the mystique of this Pioneer defense.

Ashley took his only timeout of the game with Lynnfield down 20-17 in the second. Though mostly juniors, the Pioneers have plenty of leaders. However, sometimes during tense moments of a big game, only seniors have the experience to settle their group down. Playing on her home court for the last time, DeGeorge calmly put down a big kill from the middle right out of the break to send the Pioneers on their way. That’s what captains do.

All together, the Pioneers beat a really well-coached, quality team in three sets.

“They’re such a good team,” said Ashley of Tewksbury. “I have no idea how they came out with a 7-seed.”

“It was a battle,” agreed Luppi. “I told my team at the end I couldn’t be prouder. They definitely put their heart and soul on the court today and that’s all you can ask for.”

If the Pioneers continue to put their heart and soul into each set, each point and each dig, they can keep this run going.

Lynnfield will meet the winner of No. 19 Wayland and No. 11 Melrose in the semifinals on Thursday. Wayland is a bit of an unknown but they beat No. 3 Danvers who coach Ashley expected to see in the semifinals. The Falcons beat Lynnfield in the quarterfinals last year.

Whoever they play, the Pioneers will adjust their offensive gameplan and if they continue to play tough defense, anything can happen.

After all, defense win championships.