Pioneer’s rally comes up short in D2N quarterfinals
Published in the November 15, 2017 edition
THE PIONEERS celebrate a point during their 3rd set victory against Danvers in the quarterfinals. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
DANVERS — The Lynnfield High volleyball team traveled to Danvers on Tuesday, Nov. 7 for a Division 2 North quarterfinal matchup against a tough 18-2 Falcons team. Fourth-seeded Danvers completed an excellent regular season including a 14-game winning streak from September 6 to October 20.
Danvers’ coach George LeVassuer spent one season as the Lynnfield JV coach in 2011, so there was a familiarity between the two programs, as Lynnfield head coach Michelle Perrone brought her Pioneers in coming off a big 3-0 first-round victory over Swamscott for the program’s first playoff win in Division 2.
SENIOR Maxine Boyle stood tall for the Pioneers against the tough front line of Danvers, picking up a block here in the first set during their quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 7. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Danvers High featured an electric home atmosphere for the Falcons, although Lynnfield certainly brought along plenty of support who made enough noise to help spur the Pioneers on to a victory in set three, but Danvers held on in set four to win the match 3-1.
The first game set the tone for the night as the two teams started with a wicked rally to fight for the first point, that the Falcons would get. That point ended up making a huge difference late in the set.
The Pioneers shook off some early jitters to take a 10-8 lead after a seeing-eye shot from senior Maxine Boyle (14 kills) found the floor. The Falcons came back and got the student section into it after taking a 20-15 lead, forcing Perrone to take a timeout.
Lynnfield’s seniors stepped up after the timeout, and the Pioneers would go on a 6-1 run, tying it at 21 after a nice pass from Ali McPherson to fellow senior Emory Caswell who got the kill from the middle of the court.
The young Pioneers showed they weren’t afraid of the moment as they cut the lead to 24-23, forcing the Falcons to take a timeout.
Senior Elana Kotler (13 kills) tied it at 24 with a nice kill after a long rally, and although Danvers would go on to win the set, it proved that Lynnfield was here to play.
The second set featured much of the same tug-of-war for points, with Lynnfield getting big kills from junior Samantha DeGeorge and sophomore Melissa Morelli.
The front line for Danvers took over at this point in the set as 6’2” middle hitter Abbey Skinner, who finished the contest with a team-high 14 kills and 4 blocks, pushed Danvers to a 25-20 set win.
“My blockers vs. a 6-foot-two girl, it’s a little different game,” said Perrone. “If we can get a hand on it great, but the defense has to pick up the slack in that case.”
The Pioneers were nowhere near ready to go home down 2-0 heading in the 3rd set, as they rallied for a hard-fought 25-22 victory.
Lynnfield got going once their serving game picked up after McPherson got two aces in a row to make it 14-11 Lynnfield. It was a welcome sign for a usually great serving team who was just off behind the line in this one.
“Our serving game was way off today, it was probably the most service errors we’ve had all season long,” said Perrone.
Morelli made a nice backwards pass over her head to DeGeorge who crushed it down the right sideline for a 20-16 lead. Boyle challenged the imposing Skinner during this run and picked up two huge blocks to help push the Pioneers to the finish line. It was an impressive way for Lynnfield to respond when it would have been all to easy to fold.
“One of our themes this year was ‘when the going gets tough we need to get tougher’ and I thought they did that in the 3rd set so I was very happy to see them come back and work hard to get that set,” said Perrone.
Lynnfield had all the confidence to start the 4th set.
They tied it at 17 late as Boyle and Caswell continued to challenge the Falcons’ front line, and although Danvers pulled away for the 25-22 set and match win, Lynnfield earned a nod of the head from the Falcons, and even though it meant her team was out, Perrone is happy to see the success her former JV coach is having. (The Falcons made it to the D2N finals where they fell to Melrose 3-1.
“He did a good job,” said Perrone of LeVasseur. “I’m proud to see him have success with this program.”
As for her own team, Perrone is looking forward to seeing what they accomplish in the future as 6 of the 12 are sophomores and one is a junior, bur for now, she credits the seniors for bringing the team this far.
“My seniors, its tough to know this is their last game,” said Perrone. “To have them for four years in the program and see them grow into to not only great players but the young ladies that they are, it just makes you proud.”
“Given the inexperience and moving into Division 2 with such a young team, I’m very proud of what they accomplished. It’s the first Lynnfield team to win a D2 playoff game, so they’ve written their names in the history books.”
