SAUGUS ― The Saugus volleyball team was able to secure its first win of the season and it was a dominant one, shutting out the Pioneer Charter Pirates by a score of 3-0 on its home court at Saugus Middle-High School Thursday evening.
With this being the first win of the season for the Sachems, coach Gina Vozzella said that her team was hyped up after the match.
“It gets their energy going once they get a win under their belt,” she said. “(It) makes them excited (and) want to try more. Started off a little quiet at the beginning. Once they get their energy up they play better as a team and talk. Hopefully we can get some more under our belt from here on out.”
Saugus looked superb serving and that proved to be the difference maker. Vozzella said that her squad looked a lot better serving the ball compared to prior matches.
“Serving was rough for us the last few games,” she said. “We had 18 missed serves in our first game, 11 missed serves in our last game. A lot better serving-wise. Defensively, they did very well today, too. We did a lot of that in practice in between games this week. Definitely what they needed (to) work on but it looks like they are definitely getting the hang of it.”
The Sachems got out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but that wouldn’t last for long. The Pirates would end up evening the score at 8-8 with great serving from Maria Pinto, which forced a Saugus timeout.
The Sachems responded coming out of the timeout, regaining the lead and forcing a Pirates timeout after taking an 18-10 lead thanks to some quality serving from Cassie Israelson. The Sachems ended up taking the first set 25-13.
After some close moments in the first set, Saugus went on to have a comfortable rest of the match. They jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second set courtesy of some spectacular serving from Ryann Moloney, who finished the match with a match-leading 14 aces. The Sachems continued rolling with the lead, getting as much as a 15-point advantage before winning the second set 25-10.
In the third set, Saugus jumped out to an 8-0 lead before taking it 25-8. Fallon Millerick also had a quality performance with three kills, three digs, and two aces.
Saugus is now 1-3 and will take on the Winthrop Vikings Monday (5:15) at home.
