SalemNews.com : Blogs : High School Sports - North Shore

You have to admire the athletes on the Beverly High girls volleyball team for sticking it out through a very tough season.
The Panthers were winless, 0-16, heading into Wednesday’s match against rival Salem, but their persistence paid off with a 3-1 win over the Witches.
What made it even more impressive is that Beverly lost the first game, 25-17, but it refused to cave in, taking the next three, 25-18, 25-14, 25-23.
That was a nice way to do it on Senior Night for the Panthers.
“It was really a great team effort. Our serving was much better than it has been all year,” said Beverly coach Pam Padovani. “This was so great for us.”
Kirsten Goyette, Molly Mears, Jessica McClung and Christina Littlefield all came through on the serve for Beverly. Kim Ballou and Sarah Pezzullo did their part with some great kills while Ashley Chalifour did a great job setting up her teammates. Carly Mears and Liz Zarkades chipped in with some quality defense to help the Panthers.
The win doesn’t erase all the tough times the Beverly kids have been through this season, but for one night, anyway, they had to feel like they were on top of the world.