Volleyball Game Preview: St. John's Pioneers vs. Chelmsford Lions

The St. John's Pioneers are taking a road trip to challenge the Chelmsford Lions at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

St. John's is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Boston College High just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell just short of the Eagles by a score of 3-2. While the Pioneers didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Eagles 25-21 in the first set.

St. John's wouldn't go down easily and took Boston College High into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12.

Meanwhile, Chelmsford entered their tilt with Central Catholic on Wednesday with eight consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with nine. They were the clear victors by a 3-0 margin over the Raiders.

The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Chelmsford was: they took every set by at least ten points. The match finished with set scores of 25-13, 25-10, 25-15.

St. John's better focus on containing Jayden Som and David Pham as the pair were huge in Chelmsford's win. Som had four digs and three aces, while Pham had 17 assists and six digs. That's the most aces Som has posted since back in May of 2024. Lewis Bunleng also deserves some recognition as he posted his first assist of the season.

Chelmsford was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 13 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in ten consecutive contests.

Chelmsford's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-3. As for St. John's, their loss dropped their record down to 9-9.

St. John's might still be hurting after the 3-0 defeat they got from Chelmsford when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Pioneers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.