St. Mary’s, Classical in volleyball tournament final

LYNN – The city’s four volleyball teams are battling it out for bragging rights this weekend in the third annual Lynn City Tournament being held at St. Mary’s.The action began on Friday with Tech playing Classical in the opening game and St. Mary’s facing English in the nightcap. The Rams, who are the only one of the four teams heading to the state tournament, made easy work of the Tigers, winning 25-7, 25-9, 25-7. St. Mary’s handled the Bulldogs fairly quickly as well, winning 25-11, 25-11, 25-10.Play continues today with English and Tech meeting in the consolation game (9 a.m.) and Classical-English in the championship (10). The Spartans are the defending champions.St. Mary’s hit the ground running in the first set against English. Jessica Martiniello got things going with four straight service points and pulled away for good when Julie Shea served four straight to turn a 10-4 lead into a 14-4 lead in a hurry. St. Mary’s Brianna Lozzi, who was called up from junior varsity, had a pair of aces late in the set to help nail down the 25-11 win.The second set saw some nifty serving by Spartan senior Molly Doyle, who finished the night with 11 aces and 15 service points. Doyle used the whole court, dropping a couple of serves just inside the sidelines and a couple deep and dead center. She was also tough up front.”I love the way she hit today,” St. Mary’s coach Erin Menard said of Doyle. “She played really aggressive.”English hung with the Spartans for a good part of the third set, but Sabrina Trask went on a tear with seven straight service points. When she finally relinquished the ball, St. Mary’s had a 13-7 lead that only got bigger went Martiniello got the ball. Doyle closed the set and the match out with two aces in the final three points.Menard said her team struggled from the service line at times, but compensated in other areas.”Our problem today was serving, but as long as we kept the ball in play we were alright.” Menard said.English coach Laurie Wentzell was encouraged by her team’s play in the second and third sets.”We played much better (than in the first),” she said. “There were a lot more volleys, bump setting and hitting. It’s something to build on.”English is 0-16.In the opening match, Classical (15-4) dominated the Tigers.”They had trouble handling our serves,” coach Frank DeLuca said.Lindsay Tobin started off the game with 11 service points with Cassie D’Agostino adding five in the first set. Tobin was a force again in the second set with nine service points while senior Ivy Martin had four kills (6 overall).Tech (1-8) had strong play from Yenifer Rodriguez, who did a nice job serving, and Kandry Guzman, who also served well. Leonela Mena also played well.