EHS girls volleyball fights hard in openers
The Everett High girls volleyball team fought hard in a pair of spirited matches, but came up short in their season-opening contests this past week, falling to Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Malden and non-league opponent Lowell by scores of 3-1.
“We did a good job matching Malden to start the home opener,” said EHS head coach Mike Fineran. “The stands were packed, and it was a loud and exciting atmosphere.”
Juniors Nicole Damaceno and Amanda Verteiro had back to back aces to tie game one 9-9, and Damceno had another ace in four serves to tie the set at 17-17. Verteiro followed with an ace and four serves of her own to give Everett a 21-18 lead. Damaceno had a block as well, and senior Ashley Seward, in her first volleyball game since her freshman year, had two blocks and a kill.
“The leadership of our senior captains, Sonia Flores and Victoria Rodrigues, was on display,” said Fineran. “Sonia, our libero, was everywhere on the court, covering our hitters and chasing down passes. Victoria, a setter, put our offense in great position to succeed, and she aced her serve to take the first set 25-22.”
Fineran utilized a different lineup to start the second set, which was competitive early on. Senior Emilly Nogueira opened with three serves. Seward had a kill and an ace, and sophomore Kiana Flores, a standout on the freshman team last year, hit her first varsity serve in. Junior Juliette Romboli had three of her six kills in the set.
However, Malden’s servers put together some runs that turned a close 8-6 game quickly into a 15-7 deficit for the Tide. After Rodrigues served four times to pull Everett back into striking distance, 15-11, The Lady Golden Tornadoes went on another run that left the Lady Tide trailing, 22-12, and eventually falling, 25-16.
The third set saw Everett show a lot of grit, coming back from a 20-14 hole before ultimately losing 25-23. Senior Clarice Alexis, who last played as a sophomore, had three kills. Seward had two kills and four service points. Romboli had two kills, and senior Murielle Campo had an ace in a string of six serves that almost pulled Everett all the way back.
“When Murielle took over, we were down 24-18. We believe that the score doesn’t matter, only the next point does, and even though we couldn’t eke out the win, we felt good going into the fourth set,” said Fineran.
In that set, Alexis had an ace, Rodrigues and Verteiro had kills, and seniors Trinh Dang and Tanessa Duvilaire contributed defensively in another nail-biter that Everett ended up dropping in extra points, 28-26.
“Seward was an absolute beast, with three kills and four aces, including one to put us up, 25-24,” noted Fineran.
“But Malden is a solid, well-coached team that doesn’t panic,” noted Fineran. “They also don’t beat themselves. We had our chances, but we came up short.”
Two days later, the Lady Crimson Tide found themselves in another match with a tournament feel, as they traveled to Lowell for their season-opener.
“We last played Lowell five or six years ago, but we know that any team from the Merrimack Valley Conference is a good one, which is why it was great seeing us rise to the occasion, at least initially,” Fineran said.
Duvilaire, Alexis, and Seward combined for six kills and two blocks. Romboli had an ace and a kill. Senior Kayleigh McMahon was five-for-five serving and played well in the back row. McMahon, Flores, and sophomore transfer Cassandra Tayag neutralized Lowell’s strong attack. Damaceno was six-for-six serving, including the last three points in a 25-23 win in game one.
In game two, Seward had three kills, and Verteiro and Rodrigues scored kills as well. Campo had two aces in five serves, but Lowell pulled away to even the match with a 25-17 win. In the third set, Lowell stepped up defensively, blocking and digging most of Everett’s swings. “We managed only two kills, both by Romboli,” said Fineran. “We could not get any momentum serving, hitting five of 16 out, including set point. We could not stop the slide in the fourth set. We managed just one kill (Seward) and hit three of seven serves out. The errors snowballed into a 25-7 loss. It wasn’t pretty, but I think the way we opened the match is much closer to our true identity than the way it ended.
“I knew that we would be facing tough opponents to open the season, and it won’t get any easier with Chelsea and Lynn Classical, last year’s top two GBL teams, on tap this week,” Fineran said. “But I am optimistic after seeing how well we responded to the competition, especially in the first sets of both matches.
“We’ve got 16 girls on varsity this year, and we’re still in the learning phase of the season,” Finran added. “We’re learning how to play with each other, who can play in certain situations, and which players are good in the clutch. It wasn’t perfect, and at the end of the day, a loss is a loss, so we need to do better. But there were lots of positives, too. There is a lot of volleyball left to play, and I look forward to seeing how we respond.”
Fineran and his crew were scheduled to take on GBL foes Chelsea this past Monday, Lynn Classical today (Wednesday), Lynn English next Monday, and Somerville next Wednesday.