Bonnie Politzer rushed toward the left pin, and leapt just in time.
The senior worked on her blocking for this matchup, knowing how much the Newton South girls’ volleyball team sets the right side. She used it to end the match, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-16), for fourth-seeded Chelmsford (21-1) in a rematch of the fateful day the top seed was reverse swept last season by NS, this year a 13-seed.
“This season in particular, it’s been obvious that the opposing teams go into the game saying serve [at] No. 11,” said Politzer, who was repeatedly tested by NS in last year’s battle.
“That got to me. I wasn’t prepared for it. As the season went on, I literally just switched my mindset into I want the ball. I’m not scared of that.”
Politzer (14 kills, 10 digs, 3 aces) ended the first two sets with kills, Kyra Ward (13 kills, 25 digs, 5 aces) brought power from everywhere on the floor, and this time when Ward was serving in the late third set, the host Lions made sure the lead was 23-13, rather than the nail-biter that unraveled a year ago.
“We know what happened to us, and we know we don’t want that to ever happen again,” Ward said. “Our slogan is ‘We’re not done yet,’ and it was an opportunity for us.”
Cat Rodrigues added 6 kills, 3 blocks, and 5 aces, Alicia Marcal dished 35 assists and four blocks, Gabby Caires amassed seven blocks and three kills, and Moni Tauch had 20 digs and 2 aces.
The Lions will face No. 5 Franklin or No. 12 Natick in the quarterfinals.
“What we mainly focus on is moving forward,” said coach Edgar Valdez. “We just need to push ourselves to the next level if we want to go where we want to go.”
Division 3 State
Lynnfield 3, Notre Dame Academy-Worcester 1 — Audrey Manning strung together a triple-double, recording 23 kills, 12 assists and 11 digs for the third-seeded Pioneers (20-1) in a second-round victory over the 14th-seeded Rebels (15-4).
Division 4 State
Ipswich 3, Nipmuc 2 — Julia Reed recorded 29 digs, Jade Deacon posted 13 kills and Elliott Sinausky dished 20 assists for the 11th-seeded Tigers (12-10) to outlast the sixth-seeded Coyotes (16-6) in a second-round matchup.
Field hockey
Division 2 State
Somerset Berkley 5, Doherty 0 — Senior Ryan Crook netted a goal and an assist, surpassing 200 career points, as the No. 4 Blue Raiders (17-2-1) marched into quarterfinals, shutting out No. 13 Doherty (13-6-1).
Division 3 State
Gloucester 5, Old Rochester 0 — Junior Mia Rodolosi twirled a hat trick for the sixth-seeded Fishermen (19-0) in a first-round blanking of the 27th-seeded Bulldogs (10-7-2).
Division 4 State
Cohasset 6, Triton 0 — Libby Struzziero connected for four goals and Molly Kiernan and CC Crowley each tallied for the top-seeded Skippers (17-2-0) in a first-round blanking of the 32nd-seeded Vikings (4-13-2).
“I was very happy with how they came out after that time not playing competitively,” said Cohasset coach Laura Giuliano, whose team had been idle since Oct. 29.
“They pulled it together and did a nice job.”
Molly O’Carroll made five saves to preserve the shutout for the Skippers, who’ve won 15 straight games since starting 2-2.
Correspondent Jake Levin contributed.
AJ Traub can be reached at aj.traub@globe.com. Follow him on X @aj_traub and Instagram @ajt37.