The Sachems’ surge: Saugus volleyball’s landmark leap to the postseason

By Dom Nicastro

The Saugus High School volleyball team made great strides this season. The Sachems made the postseason for the first time in program history and finished with a winning record in the regular season at 11-9.

That put the team in the postseason in Division 3 with the No. 37 seed out of 40 teams, earning it a trip to Chicopee (No. 28 seed, 9-9). Saugus battled the hosts in that tourney match before falling, 3-2.

Today, the Saugus Advocate catches up with the first-year coach of the team, Mikayla Niles, and two of her captains.

Coach on her captains: true athletes, advocates and leaders

Niles is an alumna of the program and had served as an assistant heading into this year. She rallied her teams to be competitive in practically every match, challenging Swampscott for Northeastern Conference supremacy before finishing second in the league.

Her captains — Ava Rogers, Ana Silva and Ashleigh Moore — showed great leadership throughout the season.

Niles said she saw much of Rogers’ confidence in herself. “She was always looking at me during practice or games to help fix what was going on or to give her feedback,” Niles said. “She just has such a true athlete heart and made sure she always gave 100% at all times to help her teammates out on her good days and bad.”

Silva is the “heart and soul of the team in my eyes,” according to her coach. “She always kept the girls laughing and cracking jokes. The things that came out of her mouth were nonsense sometimes but you couldn’t help but laugh even if you were mad. She gave her body so much on that court being a libero and not letting anything get by her or around her. Ever.”

Niles called Moore “a true advocate for leadership in my eyes.”

On and off the court, Niles added, “that’s just the type of girl you want to have represent your team and school name. Her volleyball IQ amazed me all season on her decision-making and what to do with the ball. She was always upbeat cheering her girls on and always did whatever I asked or needed of her.”

Ava Rogers: leading with passion, dedication on the volleyball journey

Rogers served as an outside hitter and has been playing volleyball since seventh grade. Her proudest accomplishment was being named Northeastern Conference All-Star.

“The message I was sending to the team at the beginning of the season was that this year was our year,” Rogers said. “As a senior, all of us wanted to have a winning season so it was important everyone was in the same headspace to do so.”

The consistent part of the team that led to such competitiveness was passion, she said, adding, “we all wanted to win. We walked onto every court with the goal to walk off the court knowing we gave everything we have.”

The biggest team win? Everett because it got Saugus to state tournament.

“Coach Niles established that things this year were going to be different,” Niles said. “Her coaching style was the right amount of criticism while also boosting our confidence.”

Her message to the team is to keep the love for the sport because that means giving everything on and off the court. Rogers will be attending Emmanuel College on the pre-medicine path.

Ashleigh Moore: A legacy of teamwork, triumphs and tenacity

Moore served as a middle hitter. She has played volleyball for four years and made varsity as a freshman. Individually, she most proud of being selected as an NEC All-Star her junior year from all the coaches in the conference.

“A message I was sending at the beginning of the season is that we needed to have confidence and faith in each other to go far and do well this season, and that it wasn’t going to be easy and we needed to give it all we had all year,” Moore said.

Saugus was competitive in practically every match. When the energy from the start of the game was high, the team always knew that it was in for a competitive match, according to Moore.

“Our goal from the start was to make it to the state tournament, so we knew that every single win counted big for us,” Moore said. “We went into every match with the mentality of wanting the win the same as or even more than the other team no matter what our skill level was compared to theirs.”

For victories, Moore counts Beverly and Everett as big ones.

“Beverly has been a team that in past years we have never even come close to winning one set, let alone the entire match,” Moore said. “We had been working hard in practice knowing we had the capabilities as a team to win, and we did. The next biggest team win I would say was our win over Everett at home to clinch our 10th win to make it into the state tournament. We had a very big talk prior to the game, and we knew that we had to put everything on the line, and this was it to make the tourney, and it was a very happy and emotional game.”

Coach Niles established very early that this season would be different from past, according to Moore.

“She was tough, and we knew that she was going to be on us, but it was because she believed in each of our skills and gameplay,” Moore said. “Something I like about her style is her personal connection and time put into each individual player. She would find our strengths and weaknesses and work with each of us to become the best we could be.”

Moore plans to go to college to get her bachelor’s in nursing. Moore doesn’t have anything planned athletically for the future, but she would definitely consider joining a club sport for fun in the college of her choice. In the winter, she’ll be playing basketball.

Moore’s message to the team: think about all the fun and success Saugus had this season and imagine it becoming something bigger and better for the upcoming generations.