SAUGUS — The Peabody High Tanners (11-1) repped their pink “Play 4 The Cure” jerseys in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Wednesday night, earning a team victory for a good cause.
Peabody took the 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-11, 25-11) over Saugus (7-4), earning the team’s 11th victory in 12 games. Coach Lisa Keene was thrilled her team could get the job done.
“We take a lot of pride in any type of charity work, so winning with our (Play 4 The Cure) jerseys on is awesome,” Keene said.
Once again it was the sibling duo of Abby Bettencourt (21 assists, four kills, five aces) and Lizzy Bettencourt (15 kills, 2 aces) leading the way for the Tanners as they have all season, and Keene recognized how the two are able to affect any game they play in.
“There’s huge chemistry that goes on between the two of them,” Keene said. “The dynamic, it sets a tone for the team.”
Keene also added that as a coach, it is nice to always have a “reliable” option when they are on the court together, as they connected 13 times in the victory. Captain Kayla Landry also had a strong performance, earning seven kills and an ace in the match.
As for Saugus, coach Mikayla Niles says the team “got a little bit down on themselves” after Peabody went on an early run in the first set, and that her team “tried to play pickup a little too late” after the game was out of hand. Even with the loss, Niles was proud of how her side fought.
“(Peabody) is in a higher division, better ranking, they had a challenge in front of them but they stayed in there,” Niles said.
Additionally, Niles said they are off to one of the best starts they have had as a program, and she looks to see better energy from her side to keep it that way.
“We have one of the best records we’ve ever had since the program started, so I don’t want to get down on the girls.” Niles said. “We’ve just got to have the heart for it.”
Although 11-1, the Tanners still had some cleaning up to do, as numerous missed serves continually gave away points to the Saugus side. And Keene knows that won’t slide when it comes to their upcoming rivalry games.
“Anytime we play a game there is note-taking, you know, what do we need to work on, what did not go well,” Keene said. “We had 13 missed serves that we cannot have coming into Masconomet and Danvers and Marblehead.”
