Published in the September 19, 2018 edition
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
LYNNFIELD — Playoff volleyball in September?
It seemed like that on Sept. 13 when the Pioneers hosted Reading at LHS.
From the first set, Lynnfield turned every big point into a complete momentum shift, regardless of the score or the actual magnitude of the point. The Pioneer fans followed suit, helping create a suffocating environment for a talented Reading team as Lynnfield won 3-0.
Lynnfield is typically an underdog against schools of that size.
THE PIONEERS will score plenty of points in 2018. New head coach Brent Ashley wants the team to stick together and celebrate each one of them. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Not in volleyball.
“We made the goal today that if we are offensively loud; if we’re cheering and celebrating every big moment regardless of what it is, it makes the next moment even bigger,” said first-year head coach Brent Ashley, who takes over for Michelle Perrone in 2018, looking to continue the tradition of bump, set and spike excellence at LHS.
Ashley noticed the intensity in this one as the Pioneers won two back-and forth sets, 25-23 in the first and 26-24 in the second, before putting away the Rockets 25-18 in the third.
“It was really cool and I think the girls realized how special this team is,” said Ashley. “I think they’re realizing if they set the expectations now the only place they can go is up. We keep saying ‘our next game has to be better or above whatever we played today.’”
Based on their early-season performance, if the Pioneers can keep up that consistency, they will be extremely difficult to beat in the regular season and in the playoffs during their second season in Div. 2.
After all, Lynnfield hasn’t lost a set yet. They’ve won 3-0 against Ipswich, North Reading, Newburyport, Reading and Georgetown to start the year.
Against the Rockets, Lynnfield got great performances from their two captains: Senior Sam DeGeorge and junior Melissa Morelli.
DeGeorge, the lone senior on the 2018 Pioneers, had seven blocks, keeping tabs on Reading’s dangerous Kaleigh Fitzgerald, a transfer outside hitter who looked lethal in the first set, but was shut out by DeGeorge in the next two.
“We tried to get Sam running a block route on her,” said Ashley. “It took (DeGeorge) three or four reps but she was on it the whole set and it seemed like the second and third sets she (Fitzgerald) was a non-factor. Sam was huge today.”
Hearing Ashley describe what Morelli does on the court is like listening to Edison explain why the filament is the most important part of the incandescent bulb. You won’t understand much, except that it’s clear her versatility is vital to Lynnfield.
“She’s a setter but we’re using her as a right side/outside/back row attack,” said Ashley of Morelli, who had 12 kills, four digs and nine assists against Reading. “We try and run a setter stay one route, which is when they’re in a flipped rotation. She will stay outside one rep before she flips to the right side so she’ll get a full cross outside approach so it gives her a couple of extra reps because she has that power.”
DeGeorge and Morelli are also invaluable because of their leadership.
“They’ve been fantastic,” said Ashley of his two captains. “They run everything, I was pretty much a cheerleader today. They made the adjustments, read the offense, read the defense, it was on them.”
Ashley, who used to coach the JV team at LHS, also credits Perrone for building the program and especially setting the defensive foundation for the current Pioneers. While other teams work on fundamentals, Ashley can get creative with more advanced strategies that this team is more than capable of picking up.
“So much of this season has been me trying to work on offense. Michelle (Perrone) laid so much work defensively last year that I don’t have to do a lot. I get to build on what she built last year with these girls. I’m taking whatever she put in the game plan and adding to it.”
Lynnfield has eight juniors which make up the majority of the team: Mack Schena, who had 10 kills and six digs against Reading, Sam Lebruska, Sofia Ciriello, Sophia Wilkinson, Ashley Pagliuca, Kayla Mortellite and Sophia Nagy are all key players. Sophomores Jill Babine, Ava Buonfiglio and Daniella Colarusso make up the rest of the roster.
Overall, especially when the playoffs come, Lynnfield has the talent to stay confident during any situation.
“They’re fantastic players I try to tell them, ‘turn your brain off. Play the game the way it’s meant to be played and good things happen,’” said Ashley.
The Pioneers aren’t shying away from having lofty goals this year. Why not?
“Our big time goal is that we’re the very first team to make the playoffs,” said Ashley. “The other thing is we want to get our name on the banner again. That’s something we feel strongly about. It’s a program thing. We’ve had that banner for so long, we want to be the first team to do it. We want to start a brand new record that most of these girls will get to enjoy for two years, so start it now.”
