Published October 30, 2019

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — It was a perfect regular season for the Lynnfield High volleyball team as they won their final match of the season 3-0 at Ipswich on Monday.

With that victory, the Pioneers finished at 20-0 as they did not lose a set all fall. They also ended up at 16-0 in the Cape Ann League.

They won the three sets 26-24, 25-21, and 25-12.

“This was one of those trap matches,” said Pioneers head coach Brent Ashley. “They have a good team that gave us some trouble the first two sets before we pulled away in the final one.”

Lynnfield was able to sweep the Tigers, who are also going to the states.

THE VOLLEYBALL seniors were honored on Oct. 23 before their 3-0 win over D1 North Andover. Pictured with their families from left to right are seniors Ashley Pagliuca, Mac Schena, Sofia Ciriello, Samantha Lebruska, Melissa Morelli, Alexandra Calichman and Sophia Wilkinson. The seniors led the Pioneers to a perfect 20-0 regular season in which they didn’t lose a set. The program has gone 79-12 since the class of 2020 were freshmen. They will look to build on that record in the Div. 2 North Tournament.  (Courtesy Photo)

Melissa Morelli had 12 kills and 10 assists while fellow senior Sophia Wilkinson had 16 assists, six digs and four service aces. Ashley Pagliuca led the team in service points with 20.

“She had a great day serving,” said Ashley.

On Oct. 25, the Pioneers won 3-0 against visiting Newburyport to complete the season sweep over the Clippers.

They won the three sets 25-10, 25-15, and 25-21.

“They have one star player who is going to Purdue,” explained Ashley. “Our strategy was to keep the ball away from her and it worked.”

Morelli had 20 assists, 12 kills and four aces while Wilkinson had 12 aces and 12 assists.

In a non-league match on Oct. 23, Lynnfield beat guest North Andover 3-0 on Senior Day in a non-league match.

“That is the first time we have ever swept North Andover,” said Ashley, as the Scarlet Knights are a Division 1 team. “They are the best team we have played all year.”

Lynnfield won 25-12, 25-17 and 25-18.

Morelli had 20 assists, 10 digs and 12 kills while freshman, Ella Gizmunt, had 13 kills and five aces. Sam Lebruska had 12 kills and a team-high 15 digs.

Before the match, the six Pioneer seniors were honored.

The seedings for the Division 2 North state tournament came out on Oct. 29 (opponent and date unknown at press time). The Pioneers, who will be the number one or number two seed, will get to play their first two postseason games at home.

Last year, the Pioneers lost 3-2 to Groton-Dunstable in the state semifinals. Groton-Dunstable then beat Minnechaug in the state title match.