LYNN — The Revere volleyball team survived a tight first set and then rolled to a 3-0 win on the road against Greater Boston League foe Lynn English Monday. The Patriots won by set scores of 25-19, 25-6 and 25-12.
It was a bounce back day for Revere after losing to Lynn Classical on Monday, 3-0.
“We just played Classical Monday for our first loss and we made a lot of mistakes,” Revere coach Lianne O’Hara said. “Fixing those errors and committing less service errors (Wednesday) was our focus. A lot of the girls want to hit aces every time and try to tell them, ‘Just hit the ball over.’ They hit the ball so hard it goes into the net. That’s been a struggle for us.”
Those struggles didn’t show up Wednesday. The Patriots totaled 21 aces with captain Lynzie Anderson leading the way with seven. Isabella Martinez wasn’t far behind with six aces while Tracy Gutierrez had five. Martinez also had a team-high four kills. Alana Nelson had six digs while Tassya Dacosta had five assists.
“Lynzie is our greatest leader on the court as well along with her play,” O’Hara said. “She’s a second year captain for us.”
In a game all about momentum, English struggled to sustain it after a promising first set.
“Momentum seems to be our biggest hurdle right now,” English coach Mike Haddad said. “We had the momentum in the first set. In the second set Revere pulled away early and you could see it. You could see the demeanor change. I tell the girls, ‘this game is just as much mental as physical.’ Unfortunately I felt like halfway through the second set, some of the members of the team were already thinking about the third.”
Despite the loss, Merily Folestal had four kills and three blocks. Veronica Moeun had one ace on eight serves and one block for a point. Diamond Bogues played a great game in the middle while Cynya Jackson played another impressive game in the first and last sets.
“Merily Folestale is one of our star players,” Haddad said. “She’s been on varsity since sophomore year and has the most experience. She dominates as a middle.”
The first set was the tightest with English staying right with Revere until the very end. An ace from Alexis Iacoviello gave Revere its biggest lead at 22-16 late in the set but a nice kill from Heady Acosta helped narrow things to 23-19 a few points later. Anderson finished things off with an ace to give Revere a 1-0 lead.
Anderson kept the foot on the gas pedal in the second set. The senior totaled five service points and three aces to put the Patriots up, 8-2 early. Martinez followed with a string of points and four aces to stretch the lead to 16-3. The Patriots ran away with it from there and Iacoviello ended the second set with an ace.
Revere took an early lead in the next set. Anderson led the way early with three more aces and the Patriots rolled to a 20-4 lead. English didn’t let up however, outscoring Revere, 8-5, to end the night. Moeun led the run with an ace and Folestal had a nice kill but it wasn’t enough for English to mount a comeback.
“I was proud of the way we turned it around in the third set,” Haddad said. “I tell my girls, ‘I don’t care about the score or the record.’ I care about that they’re playing every point and in it until the whistle blows the whole way through. I want them to be at the same energy level when it’s 23-21 and when it’s 20-4. I saw that in that third set.”
English (0-4) hosts Somerville Monday (5:30).
Revere (3-1) is back on the road Monday at Medford (5:30).
