RallyNorth.net

TEWKSBURY — The journey to the Division 1 North finals was certainly more enjoyable for Lawrence than Saturday night's 3-1 loss to unbeaten Winchester.

And it was just as noteworthy.

Central Catholic gave unbeaten No. 1 seed Winchester a real test before falling short, 3-1, falling 25-23 in the fourth game. Olivia Hall had 15 kills, 3 blocks and 2 aces for the Raiders (11-8) and Olivia Thomas-Roy passed out 33 assists. 

The Pinkerton volleyball team fell to an early 2-0 deficit to Dover, but rallied back to win the next two sets, both by a score of 25-17. But No. 6 Dover used a late 4-point rally in the decisive fifth set to win, 15-12, for the 3-2 match victory. The third-seeded Astros, which end their fine season 17-3, were led by 26 digs, 11 kills, 19 service points and 5 aces from Ella Dandrade.

Olivia Thomas-Roy had 27 assists and 16 service points and Olivia Hall added 13 kills and 3 aces as Central Catholic volleyball whipped Marblehead, 3-0, in the Division 1 North first round.

No. 6 North Andover beat No. 11 Lexinbton, 3-1, in the Division 1 North first round. Emily Grant had 11 kills and Emma Staudt eight blocks to lead the Knights. Next up is No. 3 Lawrence Monday in the North quarterfinals.

The Fellowship Christian volleyball team won the first two sets, but lost the next three — including 28-26 in the fourth set — to fall to Greater Lowell, 3-2, in the first round of the Division 3 North tournament. Sophia Brodnick had 12 digs and 3 blocks for Fellowship (9-10).

The Whittier volleyball team saw its season come to an end with a 3-0 loss to No. 5 Melrose in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament. Siarra Cronin led the Wildcats (13-7) with 3 kills, 3 assists and an ace. It was win No. 400 for Melrose coach Scott Celli at the school, and his 555th overall.

There would be no David and Goliath parralells here. Second-seeded and undefeated Hollis-Brookline volleyball swept Windham, 3-0, in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs. Julia Leppanen had 14 assists, 6 service points and 2 aces for the No. 15 Jaguars (7-12).

Everything started out swimingly for Timberlane volleyball in its playoff opener against No. 7 Portsmouth. The Owls won the first set, 25-17, but lost steam and fell in the next three (25-8, 25-7, 25-8) to loss 3-1. The Owls end their season 10-9.

SALEM — Salem's first-round Division 1 tournament game Thursday night was pretty much a microcosm of the entire season.

The Blue Devils, who were 9-0 to start the season but lost seven of their top 10, got out ahead of Bedford with a strong 25-21 effort in the first game but then gradually faded, bowing out to a young but talented Bedford team, 3-1.

The third-ranked Pinkerton volleyball team didn't mess around in its Division 1 opener, sweeping No. 14 Alvirne, 3-0. Ella Dandrade had 16 kills, 16 digs and 3 aces for the Astros (17-2), who will host Dover in the quarterfinals on Saturday (6 p.m.). Pinkerton won the regular-season meeting, 3-1.

It was a rough end to the season for the Greater Lawerence volleyball team, which was swept by Tewksbury (25-3, 25-8, 25-11) in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament.

Yemayma Molina continued her fine play of late with nine kills as Lawrence improved to 16-2 in volleyball with a sweep of Billerica.

Olivia Hall had a night to remember Monday as she recorded her 500th career kill and was all over the court in a 3-2 Central Catholic victory over Melrose. Hall finished the match with team highs in kills (17), blocks (4) and digs (27) and also had three aces as the Raiders improved to 10-7.

With Lismari Valdez netting 12 kills and Shea Vadeboncouer getting 11 aces, Haverhill's volleyball team whipped Somerville in three games to end the regular season at 17-2. That ties the school record for most regular season wins with the 2000 team that went 17-3 and finished at 20-4.