Rams clinch tournament spot with shutout win over Bulldogs

LYNN – The Lynn Classical volleyball team killed two birds with one stone during Monday evening?s 3-0 victory over rival Lynn English. Not only did the Rams advance to the Lynn City Tournament championship, but they punched their ticket to the state tournament as well.Classical won in straight sets, 25-19, 25-14 and 25-21. The Rams will look to defend their tournament title tonight against host St. Mary?s (5:15) while the Bulldogs take on Lynn Tech in the consolation match (4).?English beat us the last time we played and we knew they would come out strong again today,” explained Classical coach Frank DeLuca. “We waited a little while to get our footing the last time we saw them, but they responded today.”The teams alternated points to start the match before the Rams scored four straight points, including kills from Meredith MacDonald and Jackie Collazo, to grab a 10-6 lead. Classical would get the lead to as high as eight before the Bulldogs rallied for four straight points to cut their deficit to four at 23-19.The Rams? Ivy Martin earned a kill with her back to the net before an unforced error on English gave Classical the win. Michelle Nwogu had five service points in the set for the victors.The second set started the same way as its predecessor, before the Rams scored six straight points to open up a 13-6 lead. The rally included five straight service points from Johnnie Collazo and a kill from Cassie D?Agostino.English stormed back to cut the lead to 15-13 after a kill and service point from Keri Bryson. After calling a timeout, the Rams went on a 9-1 run to end the set.?It seemed like all of our points came off of set plays between Ivy, Michelle, Cassie and Meredith as well,” said DeLuca. “That was a big factor for us today and will be going forward as well.”The last time their teams met, Martin and Bryson engaged in something of a showdown, factoring in on just about every big point. The two exchanged smiles and slapped hands before engaging in a battle in the third set.Classical grabbed a 4-0 lead after a Martin kill to the back left corner was followed by a kill from Nwogu. English answered as Bryson earned consecutive service points to cut the deficit to three at 7-4.Martin increased the Classical lead to 17-13 with a kill over the outstretched arms of Bryson before the latter factored in on four straight points to tie the score. Three straight service points followed Bryson?s deceptive drop shot.The two players exchanged points once more down the stretch before the Rams scored the final three points for a 25-21 victory.?Our rivalry with English is a good thing for both sides,” said DeLuca. “You saw the respect Ivy and Keri have for each other and a lot of the girls are friends. We see each other three times a year and are familiar with one another.”