Team of the Week – Peabody Tanners (Volleyball)

You know what I’ve been thinking? Peabody’s volleyball team is special, very special. The Tanners are winners of eight in a row and were 4-0 this past week. Against Danvers last Wednesday, five Tanners racked up three or more kills with Isabel Bettencourt leading the way with 11. The next day, Bettencourt recorded nearly half of her team’s kills (13) against Beverly. Swampscott was next on Peabody’s list of victims this past Monday, and Abbie Bettencourt dished out 27 assists while Isabel and Lizzy Bettencourt combined for 17 kills to lead the Tanners to victory once more. All that said, Peabody’s big test came on Tuesday against a Haverhill squad that was 13-3 heading into the contest. Now, Haverhill is 13-4. The Tanners defeated the Hillies in four sets (25-33, 25-30, 19-25, 25-19) with the Lizzy and Isabel connection combining for another 32 kills. The story of the night, however, was Abby Bettencourt picking up her 1,000th career assist (34 in the match) to lead the Tanners to their 16-3 record. The best part about the four-win week: they did it in dominating fashion – only losing one of 13 sets. Looking further, before Tuesday’s four-set win against Haverhill, the Tanners didn’t lose a set for five straight matches. Peabody was on the road for eight of its first 10 matches this season, so the past week was all about defending the Peabody Field House. With one more match remaining in the homestand against a struggling Winthrop team (5-12) on Thursday, it’s safe to say it was a mission accomplished. Peabody volleyball, good week.