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46 | <strong>01940</strong><br />
Ella Gizmunt<br />
makes her mark<br />
on the court<br />
BY MIKE ALONGI<br />
COURT KILLER — Ella Gizmunt helped push up Lynnfield High volleyball's power rankings.<br />
PHOTOS: VANESSA LEROY<br />
For Lynnfield High junior Ella Gizmunt,<br />
volleyball is a year-round affair. And boy, has<br />
it been a great year.<br />
"She just keeps getting better by the<br />
day," Lynnfield coach Brent Ashley said of<br />
Gizmunt. "Since her freshman year, she's just<br />
grown by leaps and bounds. At the rate she's<br />
going, the sky's the limit for her."<br />
The stellar year started last fall, when<br />
Gizmunt helped lead the Pioneers to a oneloss<br />
record and a Cape Ann League title in<br />
a strange, COVID-shortened season. Only a<br />
sophomore, she led the team in kills, aces and<br />
serving percentage. Gizmunt tallied 158 kills<br />
across 28 sets, hitting at a 47.7-percent rate.<br />
Gizmunt — who was only the second<br />
player in program history to start as a freshman<br />
— then carried that momentum into the<br />
winter, spring and summer, when she played<br />
with her AAU team, SMASH 16U. It was<br />
there that she helped establish herself as a<br />
true college prospect while also helping lead<br />
the team to a national championship — beating<br />
Sports Performance 16 C-Fed in Orlando,<br />
Fla. back in June.<br />
"I was playing in an environment with a<br />
lot of girls who are committed to college,"<br />
Gizmunt said of her experience in Orlando.<br />
"Taking that experience and bringing it back<br />
to Lynnfield, it’s helping build our team and<br />
shaping how we play."<br />
And the Pioneers have certainly been<br />
playing well this fall. Behind another stellar<br />
season from Gizmunt, the Pioneers, as of Oct.<br />
28, were 14-3 and the No. 2-ranked team in<br />
the Division 4 power rankings.<br />
Looking ahead, Gizmunt's senior season<br />
is set to be full of visits from collegiate scouts<br />
from all over the country. At 6-feet tall and<br />
with an amazing blend of power, athleticism<br />
and smarts — as well as a winning pedigree<br />
— Gizmunt is a dream prospect for any<br />
school.<br />
"To be honest, I'm just glad that we're<br />
going to have her here for another year," said<br />
Ashley. "She's going to get attention from
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