By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High volleyball team welcomed Burlington to the Charbonneau Field House on Tuesday night for a rematch between two of the best teams in the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division.
Burlington defeated Wakefield 3-2 in the first matchup, completing a reverse sweep and winning three sets in a row after the road Warriors took the first two.
Entering the match, Wakefield was ranked No. 9 in the MIAA’s latest Div. 2 power rankings and Burlington was ranked No. 6.
With plenty to play for, the Warriors put together one of their best performances of the season, earning a 3-1 victory.
Wakefield came out firing, a 7-1 advantage to start the first forcing a Red Devil timeout. Wakefield kept at it from there, going up 17-7 before cruising to a 25-16 set one win.
Lila Arkinstall, who led Wakefield with 17 kills, helped set the tone in the first with multiple strong hits from the middle.
Burlington bounced back in the second, breaking an 11-11 tie and taking control to even it up at 1-1 after a 25-17 set win.
The set of the match came in the third with both teams trying to take the lead.
A strong kill from Mia Kenny (13 kills, 9 digs, 24 serve receptions) made it 8-4 early on. That was followed by an ace from Allison Cook (2 aces, 16 assists) to force a Burlington timeout. Burlington got back into it, eventually tying it 12-12 starting a trend of an epic back-and-forth set.
The visitors looked like they would go up 2-1 when they took a 23-21 lead in the second but Wakefield kept battling. A long rally featuring great defense from libero Cara Carangelo (27 digs, 28 serve receptions) eventually ended on a kill from Cook who faked a pass and found an empty spot on the Burlington court. A Burlington kill made it 24-22 but Wakefield once again stepped up this time a kill from Arkinstall making it 24-23. With the pressure still on, Wakefield evened it up on a mishit from Burlington. The home team took the lead on another error and finished it up with an Arkinstall kill on a cut shot after another terrific rally.
That set gave the lead and all the momentum to Wakefield, but remembering their last matchup at BHS on Sept. 18 in which Wakefield led 2-1 going into the fourth, the Warriors made sure to dig deep and end it. Another strong start with a kill from Jackie Sullivan and a diving dig from Kenny helping give Wakefield a 3-0 lead, the Warriors forced a Burlington timeout after an Arkinstall kill completed a 5-0 run and made it 8-2. Tori Grace (4 aces, 19 assists, 7 digs), who celebrated her 500th career assist during Wakefield’s match against Winchester on Oct. 3, was serving during this run, one of her 4 aces making it 5-2. A Talia Galante kill made it 6-2 and a Red Devil double hit pushed it to 7-2.
Wakefield ran away from there, eventually jumping out to a 16-5 lead before making it official with a 25-17 final.
The 3-1 win was big on multiple fronts for the Warriors who improved to 10-4 overall. The Warriors are 7-3 in league matches, tied with Melrose. Burlington is now 8-2 in the league. Wakefield and Melrose will have a rematch on Tuesday night at the Charbonneau Field House. Melrose won the first matchup 3-0. In addition to their Freedom Division dreams, Wakefield will most definitely move up in the power rankings after beating a Burlington team that was three spots ahead of them.
The Warriors have a chance to keep climbing the ranks when they travel to Reading (10-3, No. 15 in Div. 2) tonight at 5:45 p.m. Including that one, Wakefield has six matches remaining in the regular season.