It was another straight-set win for the Pioneers volleyball team Monday evening at Lynnfield High School, as it held off a pesky Rockland team to win in set scores of 25-20, 25-18, and 25-17.
Despite falling in just three sets, the Bulldogs put up a fight and contested Lynnfield in every set. Ultimatley, the Pioneers played like the better team when they needed to most, but Head Coach Brent Ashley noted after the game that his team got tested.
“We kind of got stuck in this snowball on a couple of points where they got on a little bit of a run,” Ashley said. “It was good, we just need to make sure we make fewer mistakes. Normally we play cleaner than that.”
Senior Ella Gizmunt recorded 23 kills and three aces for the Pioneers. Fellow seniors Giuliana Guarracino and Grace Davie made their marks as well. Guarracino had seven kills and four aces while Davie had six kills and three aces. Genna Gioioso had four aces and Sophia Calle contributed with two aces.
But it was senior Celia Carbone who stole the show. She notched 37 assists in just three sets. Ashley noted that he’s been pushing Carbone to take command of the court and become the leader of the team – it seemed to have worked seamlessly.
After the game, Carbone commented on the role she has taken on, and how much effort she puts into her craft.
“I really take practice extremely seriously and treat it like a game, because I know those situations are going to occur in an actual game,” she said. “I’m always pushing myself at practice, but it pays off.”
In the first set, the two teams were tied early at 5 apiece. A few points later, two well placed serves by Carbone gave her team a slim 10-8 lead. Back-to-back kills by Davie and Gizmunt put Lynnfield up, 14-11, and the Pioneers continued to put some distance on the Bulldogs. A few errors on Lynnfield’s side of the net allowed Rockport to hang around, however, and the Pioneers quickly saw their lead dwindle to 23-20 late.
Being the experienced players they are, the Pioneers held off the rally and scored the next two points to secure the set.
Rockport came out strong in the second set, but a 7-1 run by Lynnfield forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout after falling behind, 10-5.
The Pioneers’ play from the service line was crucial in their success, not only in the second set, but for the entire match, which is something that Ashley says he’s been working on.
“We’ve been really trying to make sure that we’re putting the ball where we need it to go,” he said. “They kept having to mix up their back row. We were trying to create the hardest ball, the hardest angle for them.”
After the timeout, Rockport came storming back with a 5-2 run to close the deficit to 12-10. Later in the set, a pair of kills from Guarracino made it a 20-13 game, and the Pioneers never looked back en route to a seven-point set win.
Rockport put together a great defensive effort in the third set. The Bulldogs blocked a number of kill attempts and made great digs to keep points alive. In the end, though, Lynnfield overwhelmed them with Gizmunt – the only active player in Massachusetts to top 1,000 career kills – doing her thing, tacking on a few kills late in the set to help give her team the victory.
Carbone was the motor that got her team going, and has been for the last few matches, but selflessly credits her teammates for her success.
“I couldn’t have gotten those assists if someone didn’t put them down. A lot of thanks to especially my passers for getting me the ball up to where I could set it, and of course, my hitters for being able to be so smart and being strong enough to put it down.”
With the win, Lynnfield remains without a set loss in the playoffs and advances to the elite eight. The Pioneers will try to keep their state title hopes alive at home against the Nantucket Whalers (7) on Thursday.
