MIAA Roundup: State tournaments in home stretch

Just a little more than two weeks after they started, the fall state high school tournaments have been whittled down to two sectional championships in volleyball and a divisional title in track.In Division 2, Bishop Fenwick — which won the North sectional title Saturday by blanking Melrose, 3-0 — will play Notre Dame (Hingham) Wednesday (7) at Tewksbury High School in the state semifinal. Lynnfield, which blanked Notre Dame (Tyngsboro) Saturday, 3-0, in the Division 3 North final, is at Taunton Thursday (7) in the state semifinal against Fairhaven.Notre Dame was the No. 2 seed in the South, and swept No. 1 Duxbury in the sectional final, 3-0. Neither team lost a set en route to the sectional final.Lynnfield, last year?s state finalist, faces the No. 2 seed in the South as well. Fairhaven was 17-1 in the regular season, and, like Fenwick?s opponent, didn?t lose a game en route to defeating Joseph Case Memorial High School of Swansea, 3-0, in the sectional final.Marblehead captured the Division 4 Eastern Mass. cross country title this past weekend as well.Manning Field continues to be a popular venue for state-level tournament games. All eight North sectional finals were held at the facility between Friday and Monday, and Manning will host some state semifinal games as well.The Division 2 boys Eastern Mass. final will be held at Manning, with South champ Walpole going against the North champion, Masco, Thursday (7:15). That game is the de facto state championship as Division 2 does not have a Central or West level.In Division 3, North champion Watertown is in action tonight (7:15) against the South?s Medway.In girls soccer, the EMass game (and, like the boys, state title game) is Thursday (5) between Notre Dame Academy (South champ) and North champ Wilmington while in Division 3, the North?s Newburyport will face the South?s Cardinal Spellman tonight (5).In addition, the pairings for the North/South football semifinals have not been released, but reportedly Manning Field is under consideration as a neutral site in those games as well.