The MIAA state tournament pairings for volleyball were released Tuesday, and a number of local teams will be in the hunt for a state title across the three divisions.
In Division 1 North, both Peabody and Marblehead will be hosting games in the opening round. The Tanners, who finished the year at 14-6 and earned a No. 6 seed, will host No. 11 Lowell Thursday evening (6). Marblehead also finished the year 14-6, which earned the Magicians the No. 7 seed and a home game against No. 10 Central Catholic Friday evening (6).
Division 2 North is the most well-represented division among local teams, with five area squads making it into the field of 20. The leader of the local pack is Lynnfield, who finished the year at 18-2 and earned the No. 2 seed. The Pioneers will have a bye week in the preliminary round before getting a home game Saturday afternoon against the winner of No. 15 Hamilton-Wenham and No. 18 Madison Park.
Danvers also earned a bye week in the preliminary round, earning the No. 3 seed after an 18-2 season that ended with a fourth consecutive Northeastern Conference title. The Falcons will play the winner of No. 14 O’Bryant and No. 19 Wayland Saturday. Lynn Classical’s 17-3 regular season was good enough for the No. 6 seed and a bye week in the preliminary round. The Rams will host No. 11 Melrose, who also got a bye, in the first round Thursday afternoon (3:45). Bishop Fenwick rounds out the local teams who earned first-round byes in Division 2 North, as the Crusaders finished the year at 15-4 and got the No. 9 seed. Fenwick will play on the road against No. 8 East Boston Thursday evening (6). Finally, Swampscott earned the No. 17 seed with a 9-9 regular season and will play on the road against No. 16 Bedford in the preliminary round Thursday evening (6).
Lynn Tech is the lone local team representing Division 3 North. The Tigers went 10-10 this season and earned the No. 11 seed, which means they will play on the road against No. 6 Burke Thursday evening (6).
