The Peabody Tanners defeated the Saugus Sachems at the Peabody field house on Saturday, 3-0.
In set scores of 25-14, 25-19, and 25-14, Peabody used its length and versatility to pick up the victory in front of their home faithful. Gabbie Martinez collected 11 assists, Maddie Castro had five kills, and Lizzy Bettencourt contributed with five aces and four kills.
Saugus hurt themselves early on, sending balls out of bounds and into the net multiple times. On serves, they struggled to deliver their own – and coral serves headed their way. The bright spot for the Sachems in the first set was Diana Sosa-Martinez slamming an impressive kill that just inched over the net.
Saugus rattled off consecutive points to cut into the early deficit, but Peabody’s captain Lauryn Mendoca leaped high for a kill to halt the momentum – beginning a seven-point run.
The Sachems’ Ashleigh Moore boomed a kill in an attempt to tilt the game in their favor, but Peabody didn’t panic when Saugus went on runs throughout the first set and won 25-14.
“Just keep the composure, let’s build up our own energy, ” Peabody Heach Coach Lisa Keene said. “On the floor, on the bench, everybody is pushing for each other.”
During the second set, Saugus held the early advantage, but service miscues and Peabody’s attack near the net hurt them. Lizzy Bettencourt was effective for Peabody, finding a sweet spot on the left side in front of the net for multiple kills.
Castro submitted an impressive set as well, finding open space on the court to drop balls near the center of the net. A mis-hit on a serve ended the set with Peabody taking it, 25/19.
Despite Peabody winning the second set – and outplaying Saugus throughout the match – Saugus’ resilience to make sets competitive didn’t go unnoticed.
“It’s definitely something we’ve been working on,” Saugus Head Coach Gina Vozzella said. “Even when you’re down, you’ve got to come together, play as a team, and pick yourselves up.”
Three consecutive points off of their own fingertips hurt Saugus early in the third set as the Tanners jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. The Sachems’ Nina Penachio ended the scoring streak with a beautiful hit near the backline that set up her teammate for a kill.
The Tanners’ strikes in the third set were hard, and often too fast for Saugus’ players to control. With Peabody six points away from victory, Saugus rattled off an impressive run to their crowd’s delight, but the Tanners won with Saugus sending a hit out of play.
Next on the schedule for Peabody is Central Catholic Monday, Oct. 17 at 5:30 p.m. Saugus plays at their high school on Monday against Marblehead at 5:30 p.m.
Joey Barrett can be reached at [email protected]
