EMMA ICKES (12) blocks a shot at the net against Arlington last night. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The excitement of a new season was obvious to Wakefield fans last night as their volleyball Warriors ran through a tunnel of teammates onto the Charbonneau Field House court before their first match of the season against Arlington.
Maybe that’s because it looked a bit brighter.
The first game of the 2024 season also happened to be the first on the new floor at the field house, still sparkling with construction just finishing up this week.
Forced to practice at the Galvin Middle School as the court was redone following severe flooding issues this summer, the Warriors made their return a triumphant one, sweeping the visiting Spy Ponders 3-0 with set scores of 25-10, 25-15 and 25-14.
The stats showed a balanced, team effort from multiple contributors and while the Warriors know they have plenty to improve upon as is the case at the start of every season, the feeling around the program is as positive as its ever been.
That’s in large part because Wakefield it coming off their first-ever trip to the State Final Four, an epic journey they took their fans on last year as they collected a program-best 16 wins, including three in the Div. 3 state tourney.
Wakefield graduated multiple key players from last year’s team, including captains Lea Carangelo, Maddie Koehane and Savannah Cummings.
However, head coach Kayla Wyland, entering her 4th season at the helm, has built a growing program that always has new student athletes ready to step up.
Those new players have plenty of returning Warriors to lean on as they learn the ropes.
The veterans were locked in for game one last night. Senior captain Sophia Anderson had a team-high 4 aces, 8 digs and 8 serve receptions. Senior captain and libero Brooklyn Calder had a team-high 9 digs and 14 receptions. Junior captain Mia Kenny tied with junior Lila Arkinstall for a team-high 7 kills. They each had 3 aces as well. Kenny had 6 digs and 8 receptions while Arkinstall also added a block.
The Warriors had multiple players, while not necessarily new, ready to step up into more featured roles, especially juniors Tori Grace, Cara Carangelo, Emma Ickes and Jackie Sullivan.
Grace, the team’s new setter, paced the attack with 16 assists. Junior Allison Cook also rotated in with 6 assists.
Sullivan was a force at the net, finishing with a team-high 4 blocks. Ickes had 4 kills and Carangelo added 3.
Altogether, the Warriors looked once again like a complete team with consistent serving, powerful hitting, steady defense and plenty of height at the net — no doubt a good recipe to make a run once more.
The Warriors went on an 8-0 run to take control of the first set with a 12-4 lead thanks to a serving run by Calder. A booming kill from Arkinstall was followed by a tip from Ickes and two strong kills from Kenny. An Anderson ace started a 7-0 run with her at the service line to essentially close out the team’s first set victory of 2024.
The second set was a little closer, with Wakefield working through some errors. Eventually, they broke a 9-9 tie with a 10-1 run, thanks again to the serving of Anderson who added an ace while the attack, led by Arkinstall and Kenny went to work. Arkinstall took the ball after Anderson and sent in an ace of her own while Kenny kept dominating from the outside to lead the Warriors to another comfortable set win.
The Spy Ponders took a set from the Warriors last year. Wakefield made sure that wouldn’t happen this time around, again breaking open a close one in the middle of the frame to finish strong.
Sullivan was especially impressive in this set, controlling play in the middle, especially defensively as her blocks altered Arlington’s hitting. Her second block of the set followed the best rally of the night, bringing a loud cheer from a great crowd as they could sense that a sweep was on the way.
Senior Ava Serino drew a big reaction from her teammates with a strong kill and Kenny finished the set with a couple of aces to close out the emphatic win.
The Warriors will play their first of three non-league matches on Monday at 5:30 p.m. when they travel to Beverly. Their next home game is on Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. against Belmont, one of the best teams in the Middlesex League. The Marauders beat the Warriors 3-0 in their only matchup last year. Belmont fell to Melrose 3-2 in a five-set thriller last night.
