DANVERS — As Boston sports fans know, winning never gets old. That’s how the Danvers volleyball team feels as well, as the Falcons earned a 3-0 win (26-24, 25-22, 27-25) over Northeastern Conference foe Peabody Monday night to lock up their fourth straight NEC regular season title on their 51st consecutive NEC victory.
“It’s a great accomplishment for us, we’ve come a long way since the beginning of this year,” said Danvers coach George LeVasseur. “And to cap it off with a win against a very strong program is a great feeling.”
LeVasseur pointed to the strong play of Megan Murphy, who had six solo blocks in the win, as well as the play of Lily Eldridge and Carly Goodhue as being crucial to the win.
“We had a lot of younger players step up tonight, which was huge for us,” said LeVasseur. “This was just a really good way to end the season, getting a quality win against a very good Peabody team.”
For Peabody, Alexa Flewelling and Ava LaValle combined for 23 kills. Rachel Coleman added 21 assists, while Tatiana Correia had 20 digs and Alex Houlden had 13 service points. Jonalyn Carpenter added four kills.
“This is what we look forward to at the end of the season, a really good match against a quality opponent as we go into the tournament,” said Peabody coach Lisa Keene. “This was exactly as I hoped it would be, a competitive match that tested us in every way. I thought the girls learned from their mistakes and did a good job of adjusting.”
The first set was as back-and-forth as one could ask for. Neither team could get more than two points ahead of the other, with tie scores of 2-2, 4-4, 5-5 7-7 and 9-9 throughout. Once it got to 9-9, Danvers was able to take control for a period of time and muster up an 18-10 lead before Peabody called a timeout. The timeout was apparently the right move, as the Tanners came out of the break and went on a 13-5 run to tie the score at 23-23. But in the end Danvers had a bit too much firepower, and after a kill by Eldridge the Falcons took the set 26-24.
Danvers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the second set, eventually stretching it to 7-2. After Danvers kicked it into high gear and took a commanding 21-13 lead, the Tanners called a timeout to try and quell the run. It worked to a point and Peabody was able to fight back to get within a few points, but Danvers was able to keep its lead. After an unforced error by Peabody, the Falcons took the set 25-22.
In keeping with the spirit of the match, the third set was also a back-and-forth battle. Danvers went up 5-1 right away, but Peabody fought right back and tied it 6-6. Danvers got a small foothold and went up 14-10, but Peabody rallied to take a 17-15 lead. Peabody then went up 22-18 and was threatening to take the set, but Danvers rallied once again and tied it at 23-23. The momentum then remained firmly with the Falcons, and after an ace by Madelyn Montanari Danvers took the set, 27-25, and the match.
Peabody (14-6) will now turns its focus to the upcoming Division 1 North tournament.
“A lot of the small mistakes we made tonight are the things we need to work on going into the tournament,” Keene said. “Just cleaning up things like communication, passing and serving will go a long way for us.”
With another NEC title in the books, Danvers (18-2) will now start to prepare for the Division 2 North tournament. The Falcons went all the way to the Division 2 North final in 2017 before losing, and their goals are set even higher this year.
“We went a long way last year and had a good season, but we’re aiming to go even further this year,” said LeVasseur. “Division 2 is going to be tough this year, a lot of good team qualified and it’s going to be a tough road. But we’re ready.”
