LYNNFIELD — After the Lynnfield Pioneers tied the second set at 4 against North Reading at Lynnfield High on Tuesday night, coaches, players, and fans erupted as they cheered and clapped for Ella Gizmunt.
The senior had just recorded her 1,000th kill as a four-year member of the Lynnfield volleyball team.
When she reached the milestone, Head Coach Brent Ashley called a timeout to stop the game – the achievement was announced in front of the roaring home crowd. Gizmunt entered Tuesday’s contest six kills away from the mark and her teammates, as well as the home crowd, were anxiously waiting for the moment to happen.
Fittingly, Gizmunt recorded both the first and last points of the match and started the first set with four kills right off the bat. A countdown to Gizmunt’s historic mark was taped to the gym wall with papers that were marked with the number of kills she had remaining – each one being torn off as she got closer. Gizmunt got another kill in the first set to get within one of the milestone. Ironically, the senior unintentionally kept herself from accomplishing the feat due to her stellar serving towards the end of the set. She aced North Reading five times in a row to put her team up 23-14. A few points later, Lynnfield won the set 25-16 and Gizmunt had to wait until the second set to get the kill. Gizmunt noted that while she was aware of how close she was to the milestone, she was more concerned with being a team player.
“I knew I only had six to go, it was like any other game,” she said. “We’re here to win it, we’re here to work as a team. There’s always pressure around that stuff, but the goal is always to win and play our best. Iit wasn’t really about me, it was about the team.”
While Gizmunt says it was all about the team, her teammates couldn’t have been happier for her – none more so than fellow senior Celia Carbone, who assisted Gizmunt on the kill.
“I was so happy, I turned around and I screamed. I’m just so proud of her,” said Carbone. “That’s really cool, that’s not an everyday thing you see and being able to be a part of that moment was really special to me because I’m in the presence of such a great athlete.”
Carbone was right when she said the accomplishment is a rarity. Gizmunt is the fifth player in Massachusetts high school history, and first at Lynnfield High, to reach the mark. She is also the only active player in the state who has over 1,000 kills in her career.
Gizmunt wasn’t anticipating being close enough to get to 1,000 for this game until her eye-popping performance against Masconomet last Friday where she recorded 31 kills. That game-breaking total got her down to just six kills to go, and after the Masconomet game, she knew it was within reach.
“He (Coach Ashley) mentioned it to me a couple weeks ago that I was pretty close,” Gizmunt said. I didn’t think that I would be hitting it at a home game just because last week I still had around 40 to go, but in our five-set match against Masco last week I had 31, so, it kind of set me up.”
After reaching the milestone, Gizmunt added another six kills to bring her total to 12. As if that feat wasn’t enough for the star senior, she also collected 10 aces to go along with 10 digs to help her team beat North Reading in straight sets.
After the game, Coach Ashley talked about how special it’s been to have her on the team.
“She is the type of athlete you get once in a lifetime,” Ashley said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without her, to be honest. I got to see her as a freshman and I put her on the varsity team as a freshman – and I got to see her grow up. She was this quiet, shy, reserved freshman, and she’s grown up measurably.”
Gizmunt helped her team pick up its 11th win of the season as they swept the season series against North Reading. Grace Davie had a solid performance with nine kills, seven aces, and three blocks. Celia Carbone had a big day in the assists column with 18, and also had six digs on the defensive side.
While she is happy that she reached such an amazing milestone, Gizmunt is ready to move on and keep playing with the focus and energy that she and the team have been playing with all year.
“We’re a different team now. We’ve grown so much. Working on new things, spreading people around. I think we’re going to do really well coming up,” Gizmunt said.
Gizmunt looks to add to her all-time total this Thursday, Oct. 13 when the Pioneers seek revenge against Ipswich, a team they fell to earlier in the season.
Ryan Vermette can be reached at [email protected]
