PEABODY — The Peabody volleyball team put together a solid performance from start to finish Thursday evening, rolling to a 3-0 win over Salem in a Northeastern Conference battle at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. The Tanners won by set scores of 25-8 25-14, 25-15.
“This was a great match for us because we were able to cycle in a lot of players and everyone stepped up and played well when they were called on,” said Peabody coach Lisa Keene. “We’ve been working hard on our defense in practice recently and we’ve made big strides. That defense has been able to set up our offense nicely, so everything seems to be clicking.”
Isabel Bettencourt continued her strong season for the Tanners with 17 service points and seven aces, while Abby Bettencourt had 10 assists. Lauryn Mendonca and Meg Price also played well offensively for Peabody.
It was a quick start for Peabody, which jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Salem could even register a point. The Tanners never let up in that first set, rolling all the way to an easy 25-8 win.
But the second set was a bit of a different story. This time, it was Salem that notched the first point and took control in the opening minutes. Peabody eventually retook the lead, and the two sides went back and forth for most of the set. Then, with the score 16-14 in favor of Peabody, the Tanners caught fire and closed the set on a 9-0 run to take it 25-14.
The two sides continued to trade shots early in the third set, with three ties and four lead changes over the first 10 points of the set. Salem went up 7-3 early on, but Peabody rallied back to tie the score at 8-8 before taking the lead. Once again, the Tanners closed the set on a hot streak — this time outscoring Salem 16-7 over the rest of the set to capture the match.
Salem plays on the road at Winthrop Tuesday (5:30).
Peabody (3-3) hosts non-conference foe Chelmsford Monday evening (5:30). The Tanners opened the season against the Lions back on March 4, falling in a five-set thriller after taking the opening two sets.
“We had a long talk about the Chelmsford game after (Thursday’s win), and the girls are all really excited about getting another crack at them,” said Keene. “We’d like to go in and play a totally different kind of game this time around. Last time, we won the first two sets but never got any better. Meanwhile, Chelmsford continued to get better and better throughout the match and eventually they overtook us. We’re going to look at the film over the next few days and hopefully come out ready to go on Monday.”
