SWAMPSCOTT — After dropping the opening set, the Marblehead volleyball team rallied to notch a four-set win over Swampscott at Swampscott High Thursday evening. The Magicians won by set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 25-9, 25-11.
“We started off really slow tonight and couldn’t find our groove,” said Marblehead coach Killeen Miller. “But we were able to get our focus back and start playing our game toward the end of the second set, and we just took off from there.”
Camille Comstock had a big game with 10 kills, including the match winner, while Ludovica Divoli had seven kills and four blocks. Isabel Curtin added six aces and an impressive 31 assists. Isabel Castineyra had 17 digs to lead the defensive effort, while Anna Arbo added 15 digs.
For Swampscott, Alexa Papazoglou had 11 digs. Alexa Winter added five blocks and three kills, while Annika Laudemann had three kills. Cassidy Ryan had three aces and 14 assists.
“We played hard out there,” said Swampscott junior varsity coach Stephanie Noel, who was filling in for varsity coach Meghan Martin. “We fell apart a little bit in the middle and tried to pick it up, but it turned out to be a little too late.”
The first set started off as even as could be, with the Magicians and Big Blue battling to an early 5-5 tie. Swampscott inched ahead from there, but could never get more than two points ahead of Marblehead. After tie scores of 16-16, 18-18, 19-19 and 20-20, Marblehead grabbed a slight lead at 21-20 and forced Swampscott to call a timeout. It turned out to be a great move as the Big Blue put together a 5-1 run coming out of the timeout, and after a kill by Winter Swampscott took the set.
Swampscott took advantage of that momentum initially, jumping out to a 4-1 lead to start the second set. But Marblehead battled back quickly, tying the score at 4-4. Once again the two teams went back and forth, with ties of 7-7, 10-10, 14-14 and 16-16 over the course of the set. Marblehead took its first lead of the set at 17-16, forcing Swampscott into another timeout. Unfortunately for the Big Blue it didn’t work out the way it did in the first set, as Marblehead rattled off a 5-0 run to go up 22-16 and take control of the set. Despite a small Swampscott rally close to the end, Marblehead grabbed the second set 25-23.
“I told the girls after the second set that we could spin this in a completely different direction and take control, and that’s exactly what they did,” Miller said.
That talk seemed to kick to Magicians into gear. Marblehead jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before Swampscott called a timeout, then continued to extend its lead to 20-8. After a kill by Comstock, Marblehead took the set 25-9.
“That really was a turning point for us,” Miller said of the third set. “We figured out that we had a whole other level we were capable of getting to, and once the girls locked in we were able to take control.”
The fourth set was nearly a mirror image of the third set. Marblehead ran out to an 8-0 lead, then extended it to 14-2. A small run by Marblehead got it to 21-7, but the Magicians just proved to be too powerful. After yet another kill by Comstock, the Magicians took the set, 25-11, and the match.
Marblehead (8-4) hosts Tewksbury Tuesday. Swampscott (6-6) visits Danvers Thursday.
