By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High volleyball team won their fourth match in a row last night with a 3-1 victory over Wayland on the road.
Wakefield’s winning streak started with an exciting, 3-2 reverse sweep over Weston on Sept. 24 at the Charbonneau Field House. After dropping the first two sets, the Warriors won three in a row to seal a huge victory.
After that, Wakefield swept Middlesex League foes Watertown and Wilmington before their victory over Wayland.
Wakefield is currently ranked No. 15 in the Div. 2 power rankings, which does not include their last two wins.
Weston, ranked No. 15 in Div. 3, is an historically strong program. They defeated Wakefield in the Final Four two years ago on their way to a state title and then again last season in the second round on their way to a state runner-up.
The Warriors putting Weston on the schedule is a sign of the team wanting to play great teams in their non-league slate so they can improve going into the tournament.
Wakefield and Weston won’t see each other at states this year as the Warriors were moved up to D2 but their matchup last week still had a playoff atmosphere.
Weston took the first set, 25-19 and then pulled away to take a competitive second set 25-20.
Wakefield never quit, rolling to a 25-14 win in set three.
The fourth and fifth sets reached another level of pressure. Wakefield had the early lead in the set before Weston came back to within a point at 18-17. The Warriors would eventually hold on for a 25-23 victory.
Mia Kenny, who ended up getting Boston Globe Player of the Week honors, finished with 19 kills setting a new Wakefield single-match record which was set by Lila Arkinstall earlier in the season. Kenny had a big hit to give the Warriors a 22-18 lead in the fourth.
After Weston put the pressure on to make it 24-23, Wakefield closed the set after a wild rally thanks to two impressive digs by Brendia Diaz and Allison Cook. Cook, who had 26 assists and 3 aces, then had a kill after a fake set to end it.
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the 5th before Weston came back to make it 10-9. The set was tied at 11 before a Talia Galante kill on a broken play gave the home team the lead back. Later, up 13-12, Lila Arkinstall (10 kills) crushed a kill from the middle to extend the lead. Arkinstall ended it on another one on a perfect pass by Tori Grace (19 assists) after a sliding dig from Cara Carangelo (20 digs, 40 serve receptions).
Following their most thrilling win of the season, Wakefield took care of business against Watertown and Wilmington.
They beat the Raiders with set scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-10. Galante led the way with 5 kills. Wakefield had 27 aces to control the match led by 8 from Carangelo and 6 from Kenny.
Wakefield was just as efficient against Wilmington at home on Monday. Arkinstall had a team-high 5 kills and Carangelo continued her dominant serving with 10 aces as the Warriors cruised to set wins of 25-7, 25-8, 25-12.
Wakefield knew they had a tough test on the road against Wayland who was ranked No. 6 in D2.
The home team won the first set 25-18, but Wakefield turned it on from there, winning set two 25-17 and cruising in the third set, 25-11. The visiting Warriors were the ones to finish it off in a wild fourth set, eventually taking it 27-25.
Kenny had 14 kills, 14 digs and 21 receptions to lead the way. Arkinstall and Galante each had 6 kills and Addison Butland added 5. Jackie Sullivan was a force at the net with 5 blocks, matching her total from the Weston win.
Grace had a team-high 4 aces and also 13 assists. Cook had 17 assists.
Carangelo led the defense once again with 24 digs and 22 receptions.
Wakefield will look to keep up their momentum with another huge matchup, this time against the best team in the Middlesex League as 10-0 Winchester comes to the Charbonneau Field House on Friday night at 6 p.m. The Red and Black have only dropped one set this season. They are the 9th-ranked team in Div. 1 even though they beat No. 6 Brookline 3-1 on Friday.
Wakefield will then have another key, league matchup when they welcome Burlington to town on Tuesday. The Red Devils beat Wakefield 3-2 in the first matchup on Sept. 18.