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The Winchester High girls volleyball team (16-2) has just one more regular season match left on the schedule against non-league Newton North at home Friday night, Oct. 30, starting at 6 p.m. The Red & Black are the second seed in the MIAA Division 1 power rankings, as of Oct. 27.
Central Catholic (18-1) is the top seed, and one of its victories was against host Winchester on Oct. 22. It was a competitive battle throughout, but unfortunately for the home team, it was on the short end of a 3-1 final score.
They had won six straight matches previously before that loss, including wipeout wins over Belmont (3-0, Oct. 13), Wilmington (3-0, Oct. 15) and Arlington (3-0, Oct. 20). It took them only four days to get back on that winning track, when they shutout Woburn on Oct. 26, 3-0.
The win against the Marauders (13-5, 18th seed in Division 1) was made an even sweeter, because it was on Senior Night.
“We have a big senior class that consists of Viviana Cella, Ella Centurelli, captain Bella Comes, captain Maddie Crooks, Karen Huai, captain Hazel Lovins, captain Defne Mergen and Liv Thompson,” said Coach John Fleming. “With eight seniors on the roster, and only six girls (can be) on the court at the same time, this could create a very difficult (scenario), but they all have embraced their roles (to make it work).”
Fleming went on to say that he has “a terrific group of leaders on and off of the court,” and has really been impressed with the “positive energy” that they bring to the practices and matches this fall.
“It was fun to see each of them make a bunch of good plays throughout this match against Belmont,” the coach added. “We hopefully have a long (postseason) journey ahead of us, and then we (can) celebrate the entire season and their careers at the (annual team) banquet.”
The match against the Wildcats gave the coach a great opportunity to play more players, and, according to him, they all made “big-time contributions.”
Sophomore Erica Jung (7 kills) and junior Violet Bogovich (5 kills) paced the offensive attack against host Wilmington, along with Lovins (8 kills) and Crooks (10 kills).
“(Jung and Bogovich), in particular, got kills at a high-rate coming off the bench,” said Fleming.
The veteran coach also singled out Comes for her versatility after she effectively played multiple positions on the court as a setter, server and defensive specialist, which contributed mightily to the win over the Wildcats. Freshman Maggie Angevine was credited with 27 assists to lead the team in that department.
The win against Arlington clinched the Red & Black’s third straight Middlesex League title, and their ninth in 11 years.
“Angevine (19 assists, 3 aces, 2 kills) did a nice job filling in for Defne again, as she distributed the ball really well,” said Fleming after the Arlington matchup.
Lovins (10 kills), Crooks (8 kills), Cella (4 kills) and Huai (4 kills) all hit their points at a high rate, according to Fleming, who added, “it always helps a setter when the defense and serve-receive gives them great passes.
Fleming specifically mentioned sophomore Kaiyal Kumaran, who did well in both serve-receive and picking up some tips along the way.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He has been covering Winchester sports for the News since November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
