Pinkerton Academy had no problem disposing of Salem during the regular season. What a difference a month makes.

The Blue Devils girls volleyball team avenged a 3-0 loss on Sept. 26 by knocking the Astros out of the Division I tournament on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a 3-1 victory to advance to the state semifinals.

Salem played its most complete match of the year, flying high and hitting hard to jump out to an early lead while grabbing the first two games by 25- 21 and 25-13 scores. Pinkerton responded in the third game, holding off a late SHS charge to win, 27-25.

But the final game of the match belonged to Salem, which won, 25-17, thanks in large part to strong play at the net by Melissa Ouellet, Erica Begin, Courtney Wright and a host of Blue Devils.

Ouellet had nine kills, Wright added eight, and Begin delivered seven for Salem, which has now reeled off eight straight victories after making midseason positional changes to address inconsistencies.

“They have come a long way,” said Pinkerton head coach Roger Konstant. “They pounded the ball at us all night long. That was the difference.”

Erica Tilton produced a season-high 17 digs, while Wright and Steph Long each tallied nine. Sarah Scott dished 30 assists in the win.

As a reward for their quarterfinal- round victory, the Blue Devils meet top-seeded Spaulding, which eased past Salem with a straight-sets victory in the regular season. The match was scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Spaulding has yet to lose a game in its first two playoff matches.

Salem’s head coach, Dan Young, said his team has been playing at its highest level during its playoff run.

“That was by far the best we’ve play this year,” said Young. “They’ve been progressing, and I hope we haven’t peaked too soon. It was not a clean game, but the plays that weren’t perfect, we adjusted and were able to move on as well as we have done this year.”

Salem fell in the semifinals last year after winning the previous two state championships. Spaulding won the D-I championship last year, and Young knows his team needs a tiptop game to dethrone the champions.

“We have to prepare, and we have to play aggressive,” said Young. “They’re a hard-hitting team, so if we don’t come with a high energy level, they’ll just keep coming at us.”