LYNNFIELD — After 10 wildly successful years as coach of the Lynnfield girls volleyball team, Michelle Perrone is calling it quits.
Lynnfield athletic director Michael Bierwirth confirmed Sunday that Perrone had resigned. Unnamed sources said Perrone informed the team at a team meeting last week.
Perrone burst onto the Lynnfield volleyball scene in 2008, taking over as head coach when then-vice principal Bob Cleary stepped down. It didn’t take long for her to take the program to the next level. The following year, she guided the Pioneers to the finals of the North Division 3 tournament, losing to Academy of Notre Dame, 3-0.
For the next seven years, the Pioneers owned the North Division 3 title, winning it every year and making it to the state finals in two of those years, 2015 and 2012, only to come up short both times to perennial state champion Frontier Regional, which has won nine state Division 3 championships, including six straight from 2010-2015.
Perrone, who has won her fair share of awards along the way, took it to another level in 2016, earning the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Volleyball Coach of the Year Award when she guided the Pioneers to a seventh straight North Division 3 and fourth straight Cape Ann League/Northeastern Conference titles. The team posted a regular season record of 16-4 and was 11-1 in league play, taking the Cape Ann League title for a fourth consecutive year. Unfortunately, the Pioneers came up short in their quest for a state title, losing to eventual champion Case, 3-0 in the semifinals. The Pioneers finished the season 19-5.
Perrone’s challenge this past season was a big one as the Pioneers were moved up to Division 2. Prior to the start of the season, Perrone said the team was prepared to make a successful transition.
“We have a regular season schedule that includes many quality Division 1 and 2 programs and I think that will allow us to be well prepared for the Division 2 tournament (next) season.”
Perrone was spot on as the Pioneers posted a 17-3 regular season record to earn the No. 5 seed in the tournament. They posted an impressive 3-0 win over Swampscott in the first round, only to be eliminated from the tourney with a 3-1 loss to No. 4 Danvers in the semifinals.
Perrone is a two-time Boston Globe Volleyball Coach of the Year (2010, 2012) and 7-time Cape Ann League/Northeastern Conference Coach of the Year honoree (2010-2014, 2016, 2017).
Perrone grew up in Somerville and graduated from St. Clement High School in Medford. She played four years of volleyball at St. Joseph’s College in Maine, where she earned a BA in biology and secondary education in 1994 and a masters in education in 2007. She also earned a masters degree in nutrition education from Framingham State University in 2014.
Perrone finished her Lynnfield career with an impressive 175-56 record in 10 seasons as head coach.
