Volleyball
Andover 3, Central Catholic 2
Add Jessie Wang to the milestone list.
The junior outside hitter registered her 500th career kill on Monday night as she guided Andover (24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 15-7) to an exciting come from behind win over Merrimack Conference League rival Central Catholic.
Wang finished the night with 24 kills, giving her 508 in her career and 109 this season already. She also had 18 service points with six aces, as well as 21 digs.
Also playing a large role into the win were Naomi Vajad (ten kills, two blocks and 18 service points), Rosemary Igwe (18 assists), Tina Zheng (15 assists) and Kate Hilson (16 service points and 19 digs).
For Central (4-3), Julie Hall was all over the court finishing with 31 kills, 41 defensive digs and four aces, while Bella Sierpina added 15 kills and five blocks. Madison Blanchet was terrific as the team’s setter with 45 assists, while, Makayla Murphy had 22 service points.
Methuen 3, Haverhill 1
In another close MVC battle, the Rangers (7-1) prevailed over the Hillies (2-5) for the first time in a decade, 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-20). Methuen received a number of clutch performances including Ella Duffy with a career high 15 kills, as well as 15 service points and four aces, and Michelle Baez with a career high 31 digs.
Also in the mix included Kathryn Driend with 20 assists and five aces, Kaya Sweder with 14 assists and Gracye Neel with six blocks.
For the Hillies, Gabby Burdier finished with 20 digs and 15 kills, Lucy Martinez had three aces, Olivia Lesswing had 16 assists and Leah Terroux chipped in with three key blocks.
Dracut 3, Lawrence 0
The Lancers (0-7) put up an incredible fight, losing three really close matches (25-23, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-20). Danieliz Santiago had 11 digs and ten service points, Rachelle Torres finished with 18 assists, Santa De Leon had 13 kills and Hanaliz Frias had five aces.
Chelmsford 3, North Andover 0
The Scarlet Knights fell in three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-12 and 25-15.
Greater Lawrence 3, Hamilton-Wenham 2
The Reggies (5-3) came away with the non-league by scores of 25-15, 22-25, 22-25, 25-13 and 15-10. Leading the way included Ilaisha Taveras with 23 service points, six aces and 18 digs, Eliana Villa with six kills and Asmeily Anziani with nine assists.
Salem 3, Exeter 0
The Blue Devils (6-1) continued their strong play with a sweep (25-14, 25-15 and 25-20). Madi Mohan, who just passed the 500 kill mark, had nine more, as well as nine digs and five aces. Julia Peterson had seven kills, while, Marina D’Amico had 11 assists and three digs, Riley Blanchet was 15 assists and Mia Contarino finished with 15 digs and three aces.
Field Hockey
North Andover 2, Ipswich 1
The Scarlet Knights (4-2-1) came away with a non-league win behind goals from Elle Gordon and Kylie George. North Andover also produced 11 offensive corners and out seven shots on net but Ipswich goalie Ava Polce was up to the challenge turning those opportunities away.
Andover 4, Shrewsbury 1
After notching her 50th career goal on Friday night, Andover’s Bella DiFiore kept up her scoring ways with two more tallies and an assist. Chloe Broderick and Caroline Samaras had the other goals, while Lucy MacLean picked up two assists.
Great defensive effort was led by Scarlet Glass and Shannon Paul, while, midfielders MacLean, Mia Giaimo and Avery Pitts also all had strong games.
Pinkerton Academy 2, Winnacunnet 1
Meaghan Shea and Jaelyn Crossman scored single goales, while, Ayvree Hamilton had an assist. Sophomore midfielder Meaghan Shea was a huge factor in the Astros win.
Londonderry 2, Salem 1
Ella Mosto produced the lone goal for the Blue Devils, which was unassisted.
Pelham 5, Laconia 1
Morghan Swiniarski found the back of the net twice, while single goals were scored by Cassidy Harrington, Sarah Coppinger and Kylie Almeida. Jordan Robito had two assists, while Coppinger and Makenzie Comtois had one each.
Boys Soccer
North Andover 1, Beverly 0
In the 20′ mark, Santiago Alvarez assisted by Andrew Lacolla and that was all the Scarlet Knights would need for the non-league win. Goalie James Yonchak made four saves to record the shutout.
Pinkerton Academy 1, Winnacunnet 1
In the 36′ mark, Denver Sherwood got the Astros on the board with an assist from Ethan Bellows to help Pinkerton improve to 3-1-2 overall.
Also playing well were aenior Captains Braeden Wheeler, Bellows, senior Jack Welch and junior defender Hayden Marshall.
Golf
Bedford 190,
Pinkerton Academy 206,
Hanover 212
Pinkerton (9-9) split the tri-meet and were led by the performances of Cam Burke, with a three-over 39, EJ Baker (41) and Brady Cuneo, Tyler Morin and Johnny Barbarossa, who all finished with a 42.
Kennett 225,
Timberlane 225
Goffstown 227,
Kingswood 227
In an incredibly close quad meet, Timberlane finished 2-1, losing the tiebreaker in the match with Kennett. Breckin O’Connor was the team’s low medalist with a 42, followed by Michael Chambers who was a shot behind at a 43.
Andover 17.5, Tewksbury 2.5
Andover was ahead from the first group to the last. Individual winners in the match were Lucas Jenny (1 Up), James Dunham (2&1), Vincent Giamio (1 Up), Brady Maggio (4&3), Will Norris (2&1) and Luke Batchelder (5&4). Flatted matches came from Jake Morgan and Connor Longo, while, Jake Morgan and Lucas Jenny flatted their Four Ball match.
Chelmsford 15, Haverhill 5
The Hillies (2-5) winners were Pat McGowan (2&1) and Joe Simoneau (4&2), who was also the match medalist with an even-par 33.
Football
Middlesex 21, Brooks 13
From Saturday, Middlesex trailed 13-7 going into the second half and scored two touchdowns while holding Brooks off the scoreboard. Liam Corman scored both TDs for Brooks on a 3 yard run and then a 16-yard run.
Swim-and-Diving
On Sunday, the MVC 6 Dive Meet was held at Haverhill High School. On the boys side, Juan Polanco of Methuen/Tewksbury was the winner with 197 points, followed by North Andover’s Trey Kean (146.00) and Jack Ventre (142.65).
On the girls side, the winner was Haverhill’s Kailyn Aquino (258.00), while her teammates Livvy Powell (3rd place, 220.85), Julia Plassman (6th place, 209.15) and Emily Lenihan (8th, 194.45) also had strong performances.
Rounding out the top ten includes North Andover’s Anya Buyea (4th place, 216.15) and Methuen/Tewksbury’s Sophia Ferrara (5th, 211.00).
Cross-Country
Brooks 50, Belmont Hill 50,
Lawrence Academy 21, Brooks 31,
Tabor Academy 48, Brooks 48
Brooks was defeated by all three teams, including two tie-breakers in a quad meet held on Saturday. North Andover resident Lorenzo Johnson and Andover’s Armaun Dehpanah were the top two finishers for Brooks.
On the female side, Tabor defeated Brooks, 25-34 as Phoebe Cogan, of Brooks, was the top overall finisher.
College Round-Up
NECC Volleyball
The Northern Essex women’s volleyball team opened the home portion of its schedule over the weekend and swept a tri-match from Roxbury, defeating the Tigers 3-0 and Quinisigamond, taking down the Wyverns 3-1 to close out the afternoon. With the victories the Knights improve their overall record to 3-1, and are unbeaten in conference play at 3-0.
In the win over Roxbury, (25-22, 25-7, 25-22) the Knights attack was led Nileyshka Rigual (Lawrence) and Cherly BritoRosario (Lawrence) who recorded six and five kills respectively. BritoRosario also added a match high seven service aces. Licinia Russo (Lawrence) added six service aces of her own while also recording a team high five digs in the match.
Ashley Martinez (Lawrence) had six kills and Yenelis Beltre (Lawrence) served up nine aces in the win.
NECC Cross-Country
At the Codfish Bowl on Saturday at Franklin Park, Estephany Lizardo ran her fastest 5K time of the season so far. Adriel Rosa Sanchez took three minutes off of his 8K time. The former Hillie is new to the sport and getting better and better each week. Lemuel Del Valle ran another tough race.