THE WARRIORS go over the game plan during Monday’s 3-0 victory over Stoneham at the Charbonneau Field House. (Charles Gagne Photo)
Hosts Marblehead for senior night tomorrow
By CHARLES GAGNE
WAKEFIELD — On Monday night, the Wakefield varsity volleyball team cruised to their 11th victory of the season after they hosted Stoneham High School for one of their last matches of the season.
Wakefield went up early quickly in the first set, especially after a long serving run by Hannah Kelley. There were some impressive plays throughout the entire first set, such as multiple nice finishes at the net by Paige Butland and an effective touch shot by Talia Thomson which followed some great teamwork to get the point. The Warriors ended up winning the first set 25-9.
The second set started slow but picked up, as there were some good diving attempts by the Wakefield defensive players and a powerful spike shot by Thomson. Amanda Nett had a lot of saves on the defensive end and did especially well setting up the offense for some spike opportunities.
Mia Desruisseaux had multiple highlight reel plays in the second set, including some short shots, big spikes and a long serving run. There was one extra long point when Stoneham blocked the ball once and Wakefield blocked it three times, with the point going to Wakefield after their last block. The Warriors once again dominated the set and won 25-9.
A perfect serve by Madeline Seabury that landed on the line set the tone for set three. However, this set did end up being closer than the others and Stoneham even had an 8-7 lead at one point.
A stellar block by Thomson got Wakefield going again and they soon went up 14-9. Some great team efforts and fundamental volleyball gave the team a 21- 15 lead. Before long, a nice serve by Haley Ogier bumped the score up to 24 for Wakefield – match point. After some back-and-forth for the final point, Stoneham ended up hitting the ball into the net which made for an exciting Wakefield victory.
When asked for her thoughts on the game head coach Kayla Wyland said that this victory gave the team 11 wins for the first time in team history.
Coach Wyland added, “It’s really cool for this program because it’s another first that we’ve had, so I think the girls are proud of themselves and proud of the work they’re putting in.”
Coach Wyland noted that this is her second year with the team, but she knows the athletes have been working hard for many years.
“It’s really nice to get the results from the hard work. Seeing the results you want is amazing.”
Coach Wyland is happy especially for the seniors to be experiencing this success in their last year.
The Warriors earned a season sweep of Burlington with a thrilling 3-2 win last night, also at the Charbonneau Field House. A full story will appear at a later date.
Wakefield’s last regular season match will be tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. when they host Marblehead for senior night.
The Warriors will then get ready for their first tournament appearance in program history. They were ranked 19th in the MIAA’s latest Div. 2 volleyball power ratings. Burlington was ranked 11th.
