It would be fair to say Thursday was the best day in Lynn boys volleyball history, as Lynn Classical and Lynn Tech both won their first state tournament matches, one on the road and the other at home.
They were a lower seed, but that didn't mean anything to the Tigers.
Tech, ranked 41st, defeated 24th-ranked Madison Park, 3-2. With the win, Tech advances to the Division 2 round of 32 where it will face 9th-ranked Dougherty Memorial this Saturday at 5 p.m.
“It was a great, all-around team win,” said Tech coach Caitlin Wexler, who also directs the women's basketball and volleyball programs. “We fought together the whole game.”
With set scores of 26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 20-18, Felipe de Oliveira recorded 21 digs and four aces, while Ederick Gonzalez, the reigning Commonwealth Athletic Conference MVP for men's basketball, added 13 kills, five digs, two aces and one block.
And that's not all. Other contributors for the Tigers were Elmer Duran (19 assists, 2 kills, 2 digs), Kury Mena (15 digs, 3 kills), Jayden Tran (13 digs, 3 kills) and Didrea Jack Jr. (13 kills, 6 blocks).
“We had incredible defense, with Jacob De Leon and Brian Robles stepping up,” Wexler said.
Meanwhile, No. 19 Classical defeated No. 46 South Shore Charter 3-0 by set scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-7.
“It was really good tonight, the effort from start to finish paid off,” Classical coach Chris LeBlanc said. “Considering our starting middle blocker Jeremiah Vargas was injured during warmups and couldn't play, we were pleased with the result. It was really good to see freshman middle Fin D'Alferro step up and play well in a role we weren't expecting.”
Leading the way for the Rams, who visit No. 14 Fitchburg this Saturday at noon, were Viet Tran (13 kills, seven aces, three digs) and Kenzel Lantano (30 assists, six aces).
“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that as a second-year program we would be playing a home game at state and we would win that game, I wouldn't have believed it,” LeBlanc said. “The guys have worked hard for this and now we have our sights set on Fitchburg this weekend and we'll have a ton of film to get ready for.”
volleyball
Acton Boxborough 3
St. John's Prep 0
No. 15 Acton-Boxborough earned a shutout win, defending its home court against No. 18 St. John's Prep in a D1 match (23-25, 18-25, 17-25). Cole Morrison had 19 digs for the Eagles, while Jaden Pelletier and Ty Rask hit .423 and .462, respectively.
Men's Tennis
Swampscott 5
Auburn 0
It's fair to say the teams at the top are under pressure, and those closer to the top are not looking to pull off an upset early on.
The No. 3 Swampscott boys tennis team had no worries Thursday night, comfortably beating No. 35 Auburn, 5-0, on its home court.
Big Blue lives up to its name with a 13-4 record and advanced to the Round of 16 in Division 3 where it will face No. 14 Wilmington (TBD).
Charles and Sam Schepens won their singles matches 6-1, 6-2, while Maxim Zeisig also won 6-4, 6-1.
From there, Nick Custer and Trevor Talibian won the No. 1 doubles match with a perfect victory (6-0, 6-0), followed by Julian Flake and Lucas Belleau at No. 2 doubles (6-1, 6-1).
No. 6 Gloucester isn't far behind Swampscott in the brackets, and if both teams win in the Sweet 16, they'll meet in an Elite Eight matchup.
Linfield 5
Mash Pee 0
The top-seeded Pioneers kicked off the tournament with a comfortable win in the round of 32 in Division 4. Due to a wet court, the match was played indoors at Manchester Athletic Club.
Coach Joe Dunn Sr. said the decision to play the game indoors was also made to save No. 30 Mashpee the trouble of making the two-hour trip back each way to Linfield.
“I was running around trying to wipe the court down with a squeegee and realized there was no way to dry it,” he said. “The match was short, but once the kids got used to the fast indoor court, it wasn't an issue. Mashpee is a young team that just needs to make the leap to the next level.”
Sy McCarthy (second singles), Shlok Kudrimoti (third singles) and the pairing of Kurt Rothemund and Slate Lopilato (second doubles) won easily in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Dan Levin won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, and Russell Casdon and Brendan Sokop won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
Next up for the Pioneers (16-1, 11-0 Cape Ann League) is a matchup in the Sweet 16 against No. 17 Leicester (TBD).
Postponement: 28th Reading Memorial vs. 5th Marblehead (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.)
Women's Lacrosse
Peabody 15
Belmont 11
Peabody came off a win on the road Thursday, coming off a regular season in which the Tanners won 15 games and claimed the Northeastern Conference championship.
The 20th-ranked Tanners beat 13th-ranked Belmont by four goals to punch their ticket to the Division I Round of 32 (to be determined). Peabody led after each quarter.
Caitlin Snow made 11 saves and Brooke Lomasney (seven goals) and Allie Bettencourt (six goals) combined for 13 goals.
“I'm very proud of the entire team's effort tonight from start to finish,” Peabody coach Michelle Roach said.
soft ball
Postponement: No. 36 Lynn Classical vs. No. 29 Agawam (Sunday, 2 p.m.)
Women's Tennis
Postponement: No. 30 Winthrop vs. No. 3 Lynnfield (2:30 p.m. Saturday); No. 34 Peabody vs. No. 31 North Andover (10 a.m. Saturday); No. 18 Melrose vs. No. 15 Marblehead (1 p.m. Saturday); No. 21 Swampscott vs. No. 12 Boston Latin Academy (10 a.m. Saturday).
