LYNN — Behind strong defense and a solid service game, the Peabody volleyball team took down Lynn Classical, 3-1, in a tightly-contested match at Classical on Monday evening. The Tanners won with set scores of 25-12, 17-25, 25-11 and 25-21.
“I think we had a great game defensively and did a great job moving around to get to every ball,” said Peabody coach Lisa Keene. “Classical is a really good team and we had some trouble at times, but the girls held strong and earned this win.”
For the Tanners, Joanna Bampi had five aces and seven kills and Martyna Kot had three aces and six kills. Serena Laro had 10 kills and one block, while Rachel Coleman had 32 assists and four aces.
For Classical, Yaritza Zorrilla had a big day with eight service points and 16 digs. Shanelle Belmer-Barry led the offensive attack with 14 kills, while Skyler Crayton had four kills and Maggie McHale had three kills. Pamela Diaz (19 digs) and Alytah Noum (13 digs) led the defensive effort and Joshua Severe had eight service points.
Peabody got off to a hot start in the first set, dominating the service game and jumping out to an 8-1 lead. Classical did go on a small rally to make the score a little closer, but the Tanners held strong to their lead. After a big kill from Laro, Peabody took the first set by a wide margin.
Classical rebounded in the second set. After initially falling behind 6-3, the Rams surged ahead to go up 11-9. They extended their lead to five points (20-15) before rolling to an eight-point win. The set point was scored by Zorrilla on a big spike from the front line.
“We made some adjustments and changed up the offense in that second set,” said Classical coach Frank DeLuca. “I think that may have caught them off guard a bit and allowed us to grab that set.”
After dropping the second set, Keene decided to switch things up.
“I just went back to the starting lineup because that’s probably our best defensive lineup,” Keene said. “And those six girls just really gelled tonight and worked to get the job done.”
Classical still had the momentum to start the third set, taking an early 4-1 lead. But Peabody rallied to go up 5-4, then rolled to an 11-5 lead before Classical called a timeout. Unfortunately for the Rams, Peabody went on a 14-6 run coming out of the timeout to capture the set and get in the driver’s seat.
The fourth set was the most compelling of the match. The Tanners initially jumped out 6-2 before Classical went on a 4-0 run to tie the score. Peabody then recaptured the lead, but Classical again tied the score at 10-10. The score was knotted at 15-15 and 17-17 before Peabody finally got a foothold and went ahead 21-17, forcing Classical to call another timeout. The Rams did rally to get within two points, but the Tanners held strong to take the set and the match.
“Other than the first set, I was really happy with the way we played tonight,” said DeLuca. “We were still done in by unforced errors, which has been our bugaboo all year, so we’re looking to clean that up for our next game.”
Peabody (11-3) will go up against Medford on Wednesday, while Classical (9-6) will face Swampscott on Thursday.
