11/15/202511/15/2025

Oliver Ames Captures First State Title Following Epic Comeback

Oliver Ames volleyball celebrates after completing an epic comeback against Wayland to win the program’s first ever state championship. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor

BILLERICA, Mass. — The revenge tour is complete.

A year after falling in their first-ever appearance in the Division 2 state title game, Oliver Ames completed a perfect season in dramatic fashion, rallying from a two-set deficit to stun Wayland, 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-11).

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Riding a 24-game win streak into the finals and having only lost one set in its last eight matches, the Tigers had an uncharacteristic start filled with nerves and unforced errors. The Warriors, who knocked off #2 Duxbury and #3 Longmeadow on their way to the final, took advantage and stormed out to a 2-0 lead, just one set away from the upset.

But then the real Tigers showed up.

A dominant start to the third set the tone — the first seven points going in favor of Oliver Ames. And the rest was history — the Tigers closed out the third, dominated again in the fourth, and took an early lead in the fifth that they never surrendered.

“You have no idea,” said a relieved Chelsea Cunningham, who finished her 10th season at the helm of the Tigers with a state championship. “They’re kids, there are emotions, they knew the season was coming to an end. It didn’t hit them until they hit the court. So after we shook the feeling, we got to work.

“We had been in this spot before and we had said all season how we were going to change how it ended — so let’s do it. Taylor Donohue came in after the second set and said it’s time for a reverse sweep and that’s what we did.”

Taylor Donohue helped set the tone early in the final set for the Tigers. After getting blocked on her first swing, she tipped over the double block, and then used a short push shortly after to find a hole in the defense. After a nice pass from junior Molly Milliken (20 digs, 25 serve receptions), junior Chelsea Wagner smashed a kill between the block and Wayland had a hitting error to give OA an early 5-2 advantage.

Chelsea Wagner had two more kills, the latter coming on the third swing of a rally, and a two-touch call on the Warriors had the Tigers ahead, 8-4, at the switch. Wayland got a point back on a kill from Audrey Nugent but a huge dig from senior Evan Casey set up a strong swing from Donohue for a point. Another push from Donohue and good net defense from junior Claire Kenny increased the lead to 11-6, forcing a second Warrior timeout.

Another Nugent kill was canceled out by a serving error and then Kenny came up with a massive block. Wayland made it interesting with two points, including a big block from Fiona Strehle, but Wagner put down another kill to put the Tigers on the brink.

For the clinching point, Donohue (27 kills) took the serve with her hands, junior Lyla McDonough pushed a set to the outside, and Wagner smashed one — her 27th kill of the match — down the line to the corner to clinch the state championship.

“We started to play our game,” Cunningham said of the final three sets. “Playing with confidence, supporting one another on the court and whether it’s an earned point for us, or we lose a point. This is a game of mistakes — we have to make less.”

Donohue added, “This feels good, like really, really good. We worked extra hard this year. It couldn’t be any better. We’ve wanted this so bad, words couldn’t even describe. We had some trauma from last year in this building but we wanted to get rid of that.”

Nerves were on full display early for the Tigers, who have kept mistakes to a minimum throughout the season. Instead, OA had nine unforced errors — half of Wayland’s 18 points in the opening set — as the Warriors jumped ahead 18-12. It seemed OA found a little momentum late after fighting off five straight set points to pull within 24-22 — including three straight kills from Wagner — but the Warriors closed it out to go up 1-0.

OA had a bright start to the second with McDonough landing a pair of early aces and catching the Wayland defense off guard with a dump on the second touch, as the Tigers had an early 10-4 lead. But Wayland kept swinging and clawed back into it. A block from Willa Suratt and a kill from Nugent brought the Warriors within two, and then Wayland went on a 4-0 run to surge ahead, 20-18.

OA battled back with three straight points, including another ace from McDonough (57 assists, including her 1,000th assist, four aces, 35 service points), but Wayland once ahead had a 4-0 run, including two aces from Anna Yalli, to take it 25-22, and go up 2-0 in the match.

“We came out scared the first two sets and we looked at each other and said ‘we have worked so hard for this all year — we need to finish,'” Wagner said. “We reverse-swept and every single one of us on our team did everything they could to win because we wanted it so bad.”

The Tigers had another strong start in the third, and this time, kept their foot on the gas and never let the lead slip. Donohue slammed a pair of kills early and Wagner had another. Then came the separation in the form of a 5-1 run — kills from Wagner and Donohue, and a perfectly placed tip from freshman Lyla Yurrita. When Wayland pulled within two (14-12), Wagner had two kills and Kenny dropped an ace just inside the far line for a 17-12 lead.

OA won the final five points of the match, including a dump on two from McDonough for the 24th point, and an ace from McDonough to clinch it.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a year,” McDonough said. “It’s been so long. We were not going to go down without a fight. We wanted this. After we won that third set, we weren’t stopping. We were like, all gas and no brakes. We did not want to stop.”

The fourth set couldn’t have started any better for the Tigers. Kenny and Angelina Romeiro combined for a block, Donohue and Romeiro each had a kill, and a pair of errors from Wayland to give OA a 7-0 lead.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Kenny, Wagner, and Donohue each added kills in the run, and senior Lindsey Solomon served up an ace as OA’s advantage ballooned to 14-6. Fatigue seemed to set in for the Warriors, who made three straight errors. Romeiro smacked one off the block, and two more Wayland errors put the Tigers on the brink. Wagner finished it off with a kill off the block, 25-14, to make it 2-2.

“The redemption is there,” Cunningham said of her seniors. “The tears, the celebration…they contributed to an undefeated season which we’ve never had before. And I just could not be more proud of all of the kids on this team.”

Oliver Ames finishes the season with a perfect 25-0 record.

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11/12/202511/13/2025

Oliver Ames Sweeps King Philip To Return To Division 2 Final

By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor

STOUGHTON, Mass. — Since the moment last year’s state final ended, Oliver Ames has been building toward another shot.

On their road back, they haven’t lost since.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

The Tigers have done it with the same formula every match: rock solid defense, a variety of offensive weapons, and relentless effort.

On Wednesday, that combination delivered again as top-seeded Oliver Ames swept Hockomock League rival #5 King Philip, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-12) to book a return trip to the Division 2 state championship game.

“This is their revenge tour,” OA head coach Chelsea Cunningham said. “They’ve been planning this since we were in that classroom [at Billerica High School] one year ago [after the state final], and they never wanted to feel like that again. And they meant it. A lot of teams will come in and say it. They’ve kept their focus on this. This has been on our whiteboard in the team room — like, we’re going back. We went one game at a time, took everything, positives and negatives from every match, to be able to craft how we were going to get here. And they’ve done nothing but stick to their work.”

The Tigers were met by a game Warriors squad at the start of the match. Unsurprisingly, the two squads went back-and-forth for the first half of the set. OA had a couple of small two or three point runs, and then King Philip took its turn. The result, a slim 11-10 lead for the Tigers.

But like OA has done to teams all season, they just kept coming. A tip from junior Taylor Donohue (16 kills) preceded a kill off the block from classmate Chelsea Wagner (15 kills), and then one from junior middle Claire Kenny. Earlier in the set, Kenny had a big block and senior Evan Casey floated a short serve just over the net and down for an ace.

After a service error, OA came back with three straight points including an ace from Kenny and a big block from freshman Lyla Yurrita shortly after junior setter Lyla McDonough made a terrific save on a ball flying out of play and OA’s lead was suddenly 17-11.

Another block from Yurrita kept the momentum with the Tigers and then senior Lindsey Solomon toed the service line, dropping in a pair of aces around a kill from Donohue as the lead ballooned to 22-14. KP battled: a kill from senior Cece Kilroy, who earned her 500th kill earlier in the set, a perfectly placed tip from junior Amie O’Neil, who then teamed up with senior Alli Cleasby for a block to get within six at 23-17. But Donohue, who usually swings from the outside or the right side, popped up with a kill from the middle and OA sealed the set win after a KP hitting error.

OA’s balance and depth was on full display in that first set. McDonough (26 assists) was responsible for setting up the majority of the Tigers’ kills and junior libero Molly Milliken (21 digs) was super steady defensively, helping OA get into its offense seamlessly.

“Everybody contributes and that’s what makes us such a great team,” Kenny said. “It’s not one person winning the games. It’s all of us contributing together. Lyla knows that we have such a strong offense and that she can rely on setting anybody. She knows whoever she sets, they can work with it no matter what.”

Cunningham added, “Any point of those six rotations, we’re comfortable. We have learned to adapt to whatever we have to do, with whoever is out there, knowing who connects well, knowing we can switch it up. The trust, you can see it on the court. If they make an error, they acknowledge each other right away to move on, and they do it. Volleyball is a game of mistakes. We try our best to make less of them, and we came out on top of this game, which is great.”

OA played from ahead for the entire second set, though it was hard to fully pull away from KP. Early kills for Donohue and Wagner sparked the Tigers, though Kilroy landed three early kills, including a great shot down the line to keep pace.

But once again, OA just kept going with its relentless play. Yurrita found a hole in the defense, Donohue landed a kill after a long back-and-forth rally, and Solomon had an ace. A kill from KP sophomore Molly Sweeney off a set from classmate Charlotte Bailey brought the Warriors within five at 13-8, but in a blink, OA’s lead reached double digits. Kenny dropped in a tip, McDonough had an ace, Donohue and Wagner each had a kill, and senior Angelina Romeiro went up and put down a block on a loose pass as the advantage peaked at 19-9.

The Warriors refused to go quietly though. Senior Cece Mullen set Kilroy for a kill out of a timeout, OA had a hitting error, and then Mullen got a deep free ball pass to hit the line after a nice dig from Mya McCormick. Kilroy had two more kills and O’Neil, after a nice dig from Caleigh Shore, put one down from the middle as KP crawled back into it at 21-17.

“We never really had control at any point of the match,” King Philip head coach Kristen Geuss said. “There’s a reason why they’re undefeated. They’re a phenomenal team, kudos to them. They’re a really great team. I thought we played well in the first set, just couldn’t keep up with them in the next two sets.

“I’m really proud of my team. I admire how hard they’ve worked. They’re practicing six days a week and they haven’t had a day off — they’re tired. We had to work super hard for all our points. It’s almost like we have to play perfect to beat a team like that. We wanted to see what we could do, and we got this far, it was really fun.”

Yurrita had another block, Solomon had another ace, and Donohue another kill, as OA closed out the second, 25-18.

OA put any thought of a comeback away pretty early: the Tigers won 11 of the first 13 points for a commanding lead. Romeiro rolled in a kill, Donohue had two aces, and Wagner found a gap to land a roll shot. Sweeney had a block and Bailey dropped in an ace to cut it to 13-7, but the Warriors didn’t win consecutive points the rest of the set.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

“If you watch the first match we played [KP] two months ago, we’re both completely different, and I had a completely different lineup and so did [KP],” Cunningham said. “You don’t know what to expect and you prep as best as you can. You still have to show up prepared. We scrimmaged Needham and Franklin, and now playing Canton and KP, that’s the level of play we want to be at.

“This group is so smart. They’re able to reflect immediately and adjust if they have to. They adapt, they talk, they communicate. And like I said, the trust is unmatchable right now. It’s fantastic. This is the best group I’ve had to date.”

Oliver Ames will look to finish off its revenge tour in the Division 2 state championship right back at Billerica against #7 Wayland on Saturday.

“It’s very nerve-wracking, obviously, but also so exciting,” Kenny said. “We’ve been here before so we know what to expect, and we’re all very eager to claim that title this year.”

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11/02/202511/13/2025

Oliver Ames Cruises Past Archies and Back to Sweet Sixteen

By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor

NORTH EASTON, Mass. – Prior to Sunday afternoon’s Div. 2 tournament opener against No. 33 Archbishop Williams in the Nixon Gym, Oliver Ames coach Chelsea Cunningham was reminding her top-ranked team that its perfect (20-0) record in the regular season gets reset for the playoffs. Everyone starts over again at 0-0.

After a 10-day break between matches and a dominating regular season in which the Tigers only dropped four sets total, Cunningham wanted to make sure that her team avoided complacency now that the stakes are much higher.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

No concern needed. The Tigers were finally playing with their full complement (after injuries kept some key rotation players out for the past few matches) and each of them contributed to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-9) victory that sends last years’s D2 runner-up back to the Sweet Sixteen.

Cunningham said, “I think they know it’s win or go home and the fact that we’re at home and we’re lucky that we’re able to host three matches, do you want to lose at home or do you want to stay winning? There’s an atmosphere here and being able to set the tone.”

If Archies harbored hopes of pulling a massive upset, OA dashed them right from the opening point. The Tigers won six of the match’s first seven points and held leads of 11-3 and 19-5. It was business as usual for a team that is aiming for a return to the final.

OA’s depth on the front line was on full display with juniors Chelsea Wagner (10 kills) and Taylor Donohue (14 kills, 10 digs, and four aces) firing on the outside and classmate Claire Kenny getting points in the middle. Junior setter Lyla McDonough (34 assists) was spoiled for choice and spread the ball around to get everyone touches early in the match.

Following a service error that made it 11-4, Wagner came right back with a kill, freshman Lyla Yurrita had a block, and Donohue powered a shot through the Archies block. Donohue added another blast two points later, this one assisted by junior libero Molly Milliken (17 digs) after a scramble.

Kenny followed with a kill in the middle and Milliken dropped in an ace. Donohue was able to squeeze a shot inside the back line for a point and senior Angelina Romeiro added a nice swing on the right side. Wagner added a well-place, cross-court shot to ease OA to an early 1-0 lead.

The Tigers were also playing well along the back row, as Evan Casey, Kerryn Cairns, Milliken, McDonough, Wagner, and Donohue all managed to deal with an array of awkward shots from the Bishops.

Cunningham explained, “They were only setting the middle and we had to reset our defense that way. We knew it was either going to be a tip or a dink or a deep push. We’re pretty deep on the bench defensively so it’s nice to be able to say we want to see something else and everyone rises to the occasion.”

Archies kept things tighter in the second set, although the Tigers led almost from the start. A nice tip from middle Avery Valicenti got the Bishops back within two (7-5), but a strong run at the service line from senior Lindsey Solomon opened up a six-point cushion for the hosts. Donohue would end a little run by the Bishops with another smash down the middle.

Chloe Kippenhan tried to give the underdogs some life with a kill, but Kenny answered with one of her own and dropped in an ace on the next point. After a pair of diving digs from McDonough, Romeiro came up with a rally-ending swing to make it 17-10.

Milliken came up with another clutch dig to set up Wagner for a blast and McDonough was able to push one down the line for another point. The setter would close out the second with an ace and OA was in total control.

OA never took its foot off the pedal, despite making several changes to the rotation in the third. Trailing 3-2, Donohue went on a run at the service line, delivering a pair of aces and getting a couple kills from Wagner to score seven straight. Archies would cut the lead back to 13-6, but then the Tigers rattled off 10 in a row.

Senior Ella Broadmeadow had an ace during the run, Donohue was unstoppable on the outside with five more kills, and Yurrita continued to impress in the middle with a big swing.

All in all, it was a very comfortable afternoon and a good way to ease into what could be a long tournament run for the title favorites.

“Each time they called a timeout, I used it to my advantage to reset the mindset that the ball is coming back over the net,” Cunningham said. “Just being able to respect the opponent no matter what and we need to earn our points, let’s not just rely on them.

“We reminded them this is our gym, we play our way, and remember that each point.”

Oliver Ames (21-0) will host No. 16 Hingham in the Sweet Sixteen on Tuesday at 6:00.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.