IPSWICH — It wasn’t just the unseasonably warm November temperatures that permeated inside the Elliott Roundy Gymnasium that had the Ipswich High volleyball team sweating Wednesday night.
Their arch rivals from Hamilton-Wenham had just as much to do with it, coming to play from the get-go and never letting their unbeaten hosts get comfortable.
In the end, though, the Tigers came up clutch when it counted, pulling away for a three-set sweep, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 in a Division 4 playoff second round match on Doug Woodworth Court.
The three-time defending state champions ran their unbeaten streak to 48 matches, dating back to the 2022 season. They’ll play their final home match of the season Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Division 4 state quarterfinals against seventh seeded East Bridgewater (15-5).
“Hamilton-Wenham scared us at the beginning,” admitted Ipswich’s first-year coach, Brian Reed. “We had played them last year in the playoffs and (assistant coach) Pete Buletza warned me they’d be coming here ready to play, so we took that seriously. Hamilton-Wenham fought hard, but we were able to get out of there in three, which was great.”
The Tigers lost starting setter Alex Marino to a rolled ankle early in the first set, making their task more difficult against an inspired H-W club. They trailed in all three sets, including by five points on multiple occasions late in the second set.
But with captain Claire Buletza going on a serving run, Ipswich reeled off eight straight points to take the set in dramatic fashion. Buletza had two aces, Jenny White scored a big point with a tip off the block, and Brown ended the set with a kill.
“It was about as tight as you can make it without pulling out a win,” said Hamilton-Wenham’s own first-year coach, Marc Turiano, whose team finished its season at 8-13.
“That was about as competitive a match as we’ve had thus far; I’m really happy with how the girls competed. Going on the road to a packed gym where it’s about 500 degrees in here … it’s a tough environment. But they competed hard and really got after it; I’m proud of that.
“But not being able to pull out that second set,” Turiano added, “that’ll stay with me for a while.”
The Generals took a 13-10 lead in the third set before Ipswich made its move, going on a 10-3 run to take the lead for good.
Buletza led Ipswich with 10 kills, 16 digs and three aces. Tea Princi, who came in after Brown was injured, was terrific with 21 assists, and captain Addie Pillis, the recently named Cape Ann League Player of the Year (and First Team all-star along with Buletza), had her usual dominant game at the net, which included a pair of blocks. Libero Emily Hannibal and Avery Brown, two other CAL all-stars, were both active throughout the evening.
“At this level, you can’t just have one or two big hitters,” said Reed. “We’re fortunate to have five in Frannie (Hertz, a team captain), Jenny, Addie, Claire and Avery. When you have five hitters playing aggressively, not playing it safe or afraid to make mistakes, that’s how we’ve been successful.”
Junior outside hitter Morgan Etna finished an excellent showing with 12 kills, three aces and one block assist. Middle blocker Kimara DelRosario, a center, added 4 1/2 blocks and three kills, while classmate Abby Cook had seven kills. Another senior, libero Ava Day, led H-W with nine digs, and setters Maisie Leland and Addie Olson finished with 12 and 10 assists, respectively.
“We’ve worked a lot on mentality stuff and have been getting better and better over the course of the year but skill-wise and mentality-wise,” Turiano said of his Generals. “I feel confident saying we were playing our best ball at the end of the season.”
Contact Phil Stacey
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