EHS Girls Volleyball Wins Two, Now 6–3
The Everett High girls volleyball team improved to 6-3 on the season with a pair of key victories over Greater Boston League (GBL) rivals Medford and Revere this past week.
Last Monday’s come-from-behind, 3-2 triumph at Medford rates as one of the biggest wins for the girls’ volleyball program in the past few years. Despite dropping the first set to the Lady Mustangs, 25-17, EHS head coach Michael Fineran saw the potential for a comeback.
“There were some positive takeaways in that first set,” said Fineran, “including the return of junior libero Sonia Flores, who had three aces in seven serves. She was one of two players we lost to ankle injuries a couple of weeks ago. With her back, our rotation stabilizes, and her quickness and sure hands help limit the other team’s offensive attack.
“Senior middle hitter Kaesta Sandy was another bright spot in the opener, hitting four kills. She continued that dominance in the second set, tallying another three kills and a block,” continued Fineran.
Also making key contributions in the second set were senior captain Nicole Brandao, who had a block and an ace; senior outside hitter Darrynn Desrameaux, who made two kills; sophomore Amanda Verteiro, who delivered two aces; and junior Trinh Dang, who had five service points in the set, which Everett won, 25-17.
Everett maintained its momentum into the third set. Junior Emilly Nogueira aced three of five serves to open the set and Brandao followed with nine serves to put the Tide up, 13-4. Junior Kayleigh McMahon made two digs and two service points and Sandy had two more kills, while junior Tanessa Duvilaire and sophomore Juliette Romboli each had a pair of kills in the 25-15 win.
“We played well together and were aggressive. When that happens, good things happen. When we don’t, they don’t — and we didn’t keep playing that way in the next set,” said Fineran.
Everett quickly went down 10 points, though two aces and six serves from Brandao brought Everett back to within four points at 20-16. However, the Lady Crimson Tide couldn’t sustain their attack and fell, 25-18, setting up the fifth-set tiebreaker. The race to 15 points was close early, when a serve from sophomore Nicole Damaceno put Everett up 6-5. But Medford went on a run and built a 12-7 lead.
“Our backs were against the wall, but junior Victoria Rodrigues had an ace in four serves to pull us to within one,” said Fineran.
Nogueira then delivered a serve for a 14-13 lead and Brandao took over serving with the game tied at 15-15. Rodrigues set up Sandy for the next two points and Everett eled out the win, 17-15.
“That has sort of been what our season has been so far,” noted Fineran. “We look really good at some points, we look easy to beat at other points, but we keep fighting. Different people are stepping up and helping us find ways to win.”
Two days later, the Lady Crimson Tide dispatched Revere in three sets, 25-18, 25-14, and 25-21. Rodrigues set the tone early, serving Everett to a quick 7-0 lead. Brandao had two kills, Nogueira had an ace and a dig, and Damaceno served an ace in the 25-18 first-set win. In the next set, Duvilaire had two kills, a block, and a dig. Brandao and Sandy combined for seven kills. Verteiro served the final point for the 25-14 win. In the third set, senior co-captain Yasmine Laabadla served to give Everett an early lead, then followed that up with solid back row defense. Desrameaux had two kills and Romboli added another, as did Rodrigues. With Everett leading 24-21, Romboli served for the win, to complete the Lady Crimson Tide’s first three-game sweep of the season.
“We are 6-3 at the halfway point of the season,” said Fineran. “We need three more wins to qualify for the state tournament. We’re happy with what we’ve achieved so far, but we’re not satisfied. We know it won’t be easy and that we’ll have to fight for everything. It feels good having so many players step up and contribute. We definitely have talent, but we know from experience that talent alone doesn’t guarantee wins. We have to earn everything. We have put ourselves in good position to make a run for the tournament, but we have a tough week coming up, with rematches against Malden, Chelsea, and Lynn English. We have to be ready to play even better than we have so far.”
Fineran and his crew were scheduled to take on Malden this past Monday and will make the short trek across the Parkway to Chelsea today (Wednesday). They will entertain Lynn Classical on Friday, travel to Lynn English next Monday, and host Somerville next Wednesday.
EHS Boys Soccer Hosts Chelsea Next Wednesday
The Everett High boys soccer team, which sports a 5-2-1 record, will host Greater Boston League rival Chelsea next Wednesday afternoon at 7-Acre Park.
Coach Pedro Blas’s crew was scheduled to trek to Medford yesterday (Tuesday) and to Malden tomorrow (Thursday).
EHS Girls Soccer Plays Well vs. Classical:
Although the Everett High girls soccer team came up on the short end of a 4-1 decision last Tuesday to Greater Boston League rival Lynn Classical, EHS head coach Domenick Persuitte was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Despite the final score, we had an excellent outing,” said Persuitte.
Layla Cardona, assisted by Yelsa Garcia, tallied the Everett goal when she blasted a rocket from just outside the box that beat the Classical keeper under the crossbar. Persuitte also noted the fine play of some of his other players.
“Emilia Maria-Babcock has just excelled in her new role as a center-back,” said Persuitte. “Her tireless effort kept the Lynn attack at bay. Alongside Emilia, Alondra Flores and Gleidy Tejada played excellently as well. Gleidy controlled the left side of the defense with her physicality, while Alondra controlled the midfield/forward position with her foot skills.”
Despite a 9-0 final outcome two days later in a loss to first-place Someville, which is 7-0 in the GBL, Persuitte also saw some encouraging signs from his squad. “The score does not depict the game at all,” said the coach. “Laura Sanchez faced over 20 shots during the game. She single-handedly kept the game score as low as she could. Over half of the Somerville goals were arguably offsides. However, the team itself played well overall. The entire team stepped up the physicality, the communication, and the passing. All three have what we have been working on over the whole season. Once again, Emilia Maria-Babcock played lights out on defense, and played a small portion of time in the net when Laura got hurt.”
Persuitte and his crew were scheduled to entertain Medford yesterday (Tuesday) and Malden tomorrow (Thursday). They will make the short trek across the Parkway to Chelsea next Tuesday.
EHS Golfers Look To Make Progress
Although the Everett High golf team came up on the short end of its matches this past week to Somerville (46-26), Salem (50-22), and Medford (57. 5-14.5), EHS head coach Steve Gallagher said his squad continues working to improve their game.
“It was a tough week for us,” said Gallagher. “We went up against two of the better teams in the GBL and a non-league NEC team. We gained some good experience, but we’re still struggling to string together good holes. We have another three-match week coming up, so I am hopeful we will make some progress.”
Strong Performances by EHS Field Hockey
The Everett High field hockey team turned in some strong efforts in its two contests this past week.
With Malaica Guillaume serving as the team’s honorary captain for the week, the Crimson Tide dueled non-league rival Melrose last Monday in a hard-fought contest.
“What a game!” said EHS head coach Sabrina Wright. “This was probably one of my favorite games to watch. It was very rainy, but this team played so hard. At halftime Melrose was up, 1-0, and was ahead 3-1 at the end of the third period, with Jonathan Scoletti scoring a goal for us that very much kept us in the game.
“The team was fired up like I’ve never seen them before,” continued Wright. “Out of the gate in the fourth period we had goals from Malaica and Cephans Orleus to tie the score at 3-3, but Melrose came back and scored two more. We fought hard to tie it back up, but the clock ran out.
“This game was the best we have played all year and the hardest we have played even though it was raining,” Wright added. “We cannot wait to play them again.”
Jonathan Scoletti was named the team’s MVP, “for keeping his stick down and continuously coming up with the ball, getting his first goal, and it was his birthday,” noted Wright.
Last Wednesday Wright and her crew went up against a strong Wakefield foe for the second time this season.
“This was a tough game,” said Wright. “Coming from Monday’s game to this game, we took two steps back, where I think we let the idea that this team beat us last time 6-0 get the best of us. The team that showed up to this game was a different team than Monday, so It was a tough 7-0 loss.
“I always tell the team I don’t care if we lose, as long as we lose fighting, but if we lose because we gave up or didn’t try, then you’ve let yourself down and your team down,” the coach added. “We let the loss sink in and started on a new foot at practice on Thursday.
“With that said, no matter how hard a game is or a loss, it is still important to recognize those who did work hard and our MVP of this game was Emma Longmore, who is a four-year player and senior, and it was great watching her play this game because she did all the fundamental little things that get you the advantage.”
Wright and her crew were scheduled to trek to Peabody yesterday (Tuesday) when Wright will go up against her former club coach. They will host Revere today (Wednesday) and will travel to Malden next Wednesday.