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Girls volleyball

Led by Amanda Saab (16 service points, 14 kills, seven aces), the Salem girls volleyball team defeated Londonderry 25-14, 25-22, 25-11 to advance to the Class L semifinals. The Blue Devils also had big contributions from Sarah Scott (25 assists) and Becca Weiss (nine digs) en route to their fourth-straight quarterfinal round victory.

Amanda Saab recorded a team-high 11 kills, including the 600th of her stellar career, as No. 3 Salem bested No. 14 Trinity 25-10, 25-17, 25-8 in the first round of the Division 1 tournament. Becca Weiss tallied 12 service points, Courtney Wright added eight kills and Sarah Scott chipped in with 25 assists for the Blue Devils (17-2).

Salem's Becca Weiss recorded her 500th career service point in a 25-13, 25-16, 25-12 win over Keene. Weiss hit 20 points along with 8 aces. Amanda Saab (5 aces 4 kills) and Melissa Paris (8 digs) also stood out.

Winning without star
The Salem girls volleyball team somehow improved to 11-2 with a sweep of Timberlane despite missing two starters, including star captain Amanda Saab, who hurt her ankle in practice Friday. She joins Robyn Ciriello, who has been out with a back injury for a month and Courtney Wright, who has missed the entire season with a broken wrist.
Junior Becca Weiss led the way over Timberlane with 11 kills and nine service points.

Salem lost for the second time this season, but both losses have been to the cream of the crop. Yesterday, the Blue Devils fell to Spaulding (10-1 Division 1). Their first loss was to then-undefeated Pinkerton. Salem (10-2) was led again by Amanda Saab, who finished with 16 kills. Becca Weiss also contributed seven kills to go along with eight service points and 12 digs.

Bouncing Back

This time Salem won the battle of the unbeatens. Last Saturday, Pinkerton dropped the Blue Devils but yesterday Salem bested Nashua North, 3-1, handing the Titans their first loss in 10 matches. Salem rode the all-around brilliance of Amanda Saab to silence the crowd of nearly 300 fans at Nashua.

To think, Salem middle hitter Amanda Saab played field hockey in her freshman season. The 5-foot-11 senior notched her 500th career kill in the Blue Devils' 25-21, 26-24, 25-17 win over rival Londonderry last night.

As far as comebacks, and big wins, they don't come any bigger than Pinkerton's girls volleyball 3-2 win over two-time Division 1 state champion Salem yesterday. Trailing 2-0 in games and 23-19 in the third game, the Astros (8-0) rallied for a dramatic 23-25,17-25, 28-26, 25-20, 15-12 victory, handing the talented Blue Devils their first loss of the year.

Amanda Saab had an astonishing 23 kills in Salem's 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 victory over Nashua South. Also helping the Blue Devils improve to 7-0 were Sarah Scott (29 assists) and Becca Weiss (17 digs).

In their own special ways, Amanda Saab and Becca Weiss are making their marks on this year's undefeated Salem volleyball squad. A shutout defeat of Bishop Guertin highlights the role of each. Saab, as befitting a returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star, made her presence felt with a team-high seven kills and five blocks. Weiss, a three-year starter and two-time state champ along with Saab, had a more subtle impact but just as effective with 17 service points, 5 aces, 5 kills and 14 digs.