You could say Thursday was the best day in Lynn boys volleyball history, and it’d be hard to argue. Both Lynn Classical and Lynn Tech won their first state tournament games – one on the road, and one at home.
They were the lower seed, but that didn’t mean anything to the Tigers.
No. 41 Tech upset No. 24 Madison Park, 3-2. The win punched Tech’s ticket to the Division 2 Round of 32 where it will face No. 9 Doherty Memorial this Saturday at 5 p.m.
“Great, all-around team win,” said Tech coach Kaitlyn Wechsler, who also helms the girls basketball and volleyball programs. “We fought together the entire match.”
In set scores of 26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, and 20-18, Felipe De Oliveira had 21 digs and four aces. Ederick Gonzalez, whom many know as the Commonwealth Athletic Conference MVP in boys basketball, added 13 kills, five digs, two aces, and a block.
That wasn’t all. Other contributing Tigers were Elmer Duran (19 assists, 2 kills, 2 digs), Keury Mena (15 digs, 3 kills), Jayden Tran (13 digs, 3 kills), and Didlaire Jacques Jr. (13 kills, 6 blocks).
“Jacob De Leon and Bryan Robles stepped up and played unbelievable defense,” Wechsler said.
As for No. 19 Classical, it took care of No. 46 South Shore Charter, 3-0, in set scores of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-7.
“I was really happy with the effort from start to finish tonight, said Classical coach Chris LeBlanc. “Considering that one of our starting middle blockers, Jeremiah Vargas, was injured in warmups and unable to play, I was happy with the result. It was really nice to see our freshman middle, Finn Dalferro, step up and play well in a role he wasn’t expecting.”
The leading Rams – who visit No. 14 Fitchburg this Saturday at noon – were Viet Tran (13 kills, 7 aces, 3 digs) and Kenzel Lantano (30 assists, 6 aces).
“If you had told me at the beginning of the year that as a second-year program, we would end up with a home game in states and end up winning that game, I wouldn’t have believed you,” LeBlanc said. “The boys worked for this, and, now, we need to turn our attention to Fitchburg this weekend. We have a lot of film work to do to get ready.”
VOLLEYBALL
Acton-Boxborough 3
St. John’s Prep 0
It was a clean shutout for No. 15 Acton-Boxborough, which defended its home hardwood from No. 18 St. John’s Prep in D1 action (23-25, 18-25, 17-25). Cole Morrison had 19 digs for the Eagles, while Jayden Pelletier and Tighe Lusk hit .423 and .462, respectively.
BOYS TENNIS
Swampscott 5
Auburn 0
It’s fair to say that well-ranked teams face pressure. No program near the top wants to be upset early.
Thursday evening, the No. 3 Swampscott boys tennis team had nothing to worry about, cruising to a 5-0 win against No. 35 Auburn on homecourt.
The Big Blue – playing true to their name with a 13-4 record – advanced to the Division 3 Round of 16 to face No. 14 Wilmington (TBD).
Charles and Sam Schepens each won their singles matches in 6-1, 6-2 fashion, while Maxim Zeissig followed with another (6-4, 6-1).
From there, Nick Custer and Trevor Talibian picked up a clean first doubles win (6-0, 6-0), followed by Julian Flake and Lucas Bereaud in second doubles (6-1, 6-1).
No. 6 Gloucester isn’t far away from Swampscott in the bracket. Should both programs take care of business in the Sweet 16, an Elite 8 matchup would be underway.
Lynnfield 5
Mashpee 0
The top-seeded Pioneers didn’t break a sweat and opened the tournament with an easy win in the Division 4 Round of 32. Due to wet court conditions, the match was played indoors at the Manchester Athletic Club.
Head coach Joe Dunn Sr. said the decision was made to go indoors in part to spare No. 30 Mashpee from having to make another two-hour, one-way trip back to Lynnfield.
“We were running around trying to squeegee the courts and realized there was no way they could get dry,” he said. “The matches were pretty quick, but once the kids learned to adjust to the faster indoor courts, we had no problems. Mashpee is a young team that just needs to make the leap up to the next level.”
Shea McCarthy (second singles), Shlok Kudrimoti (third singles) and the duo of Kurt Rothermund and Slate LoPilato (second doubles) cruised to straight set 6-0, 6-0 wins.
At first singles, Dan Levin won 6-1, 6-0, while Russell Kasdon and Brendan Sokop won at first doubles, 6-2, 6-1.
The Pioneers’ (16-1; 11-0 Cape Ann League) next match is against No. 17 Leicester (TBD) in the Sweet 16.
Postponement: No. 28 Reading Memorial at No. 5 Marblehead (Saturday at 3:30)
GIRLS LACROSSE
Peabody 15
Belmont 11
Peabody, fresh off its regular season in which the Tanners won 15 games and captured the Northeastern Conference Championship, went into enemy territory and left victorious on Thursday.
The No. 20 Tanners defeated No. 13 Belmont by four goals, punching their ticket to the Division 1 Round of 32 (TBD). Peabody led after every quarter.
Caitlin Snow had 11 saves, while Brooke Lomasney (7 goals) and Ally Bettencourt (6) combined for 13 goals.
“I’m so incredibly proud of their total team effort, start to finish tonight,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach.
SOFTBALL
Postponement: No. 36 Lynn Classical and No. 29 Agawam (Sunday at 2)
GIRLS TENNIS
Postponements: No. 30 Winthrop and No. 3 Lynnfield (Saturday at 2:30); No. 34 Peabody at No. 31 North Andover (Saturday at 10); No. 18 Melrose at No. 15 Marblehead (Saturday at 1); No. 21 Swampscott at No. 12 Boston Latin Academy (Saturday at 10).
