METHUEN – With five-set losses in each of their previous three matchups, including a reverse sweep last year, it seemed like the Chelmsford boys volleyball team had Methuen’s number no matter who the Rangers put on the court.
Not anymore.
As part of another Merrimack Valley Conference rock fight, 16th-seeded Methuen (13-8) snapped its losing streak against No. 17 Chelmsford (12-9) with a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22) in a Div. 1 first-round matchup Monday night.
James Levesque led the charge by blasting 19 kills, countering Lions star hitter Dom Flores (22 kills) blow for blow to help the Rangers move on.
Six of those kills came in a tone-setting opening frame, while Liam Doherty (37 assists), Drew Eason (12 kills), Joshua Kiwanuka (four kills, three blocks) and Jack Flynn (three kills, two blocks) each stepped up big in pieces to break up the strings of momentum Chelmsford responded with at every turn.
Defense from Matthew Kovacev and Shawn LaDuke proved vital, and Methuen now has a date with unbeaten No. 1 Needham in the next round of the state tournament.
“They knew what we were going to do, we knew what they were going to do, we just had to execute better,” said Rangers head coach Matt Twomey. “Our defense was enormous tonight, made play after play, and our outsides were pretty much unstoppable. … They had it in their head that they wanted to win, they wanted to send Chelmsford home and that’s exactly what they did. I was very impressed with what they did tonight.”
Not a single part of their three set victories came easy, as Chelmsford gave as much of the challenge you’d expect from a team that’s won the matchup between the two at least four straight times. Every frame saw the Lions lead at some point, and the second set even looked like it was theirs for the taking.
After Levesque caught fire alongside Eason to close out a 1-0 match lead, Chelmsford had all the momentum in the second. Self-inflicted mistakes from the Lions allowed Methuen to stay in it, but Victor Lam (44 assists) connected with three different hitters to help build a lead as large as 20-16 before Twomey called timeout.
From there, Kiwanuka picked up two big blocks, lefty Lucas Giard touched down a kill, and Levesque finished off a 9-2 run with an ace to steal the set. Methuen was back on track up 2-0.
“It showed a lot of character, especially because these guys haven’t played a match in two weeks,” Twomey said. “I just told them that when we play with emotion, when we win the emotional battle first, we’re such a better team. We’ve got to come out there and play with emotion – we played really flat. … Once we had the energy back, it was really tough for (Chelmsford) to get the momentum back.”
Chelmsford’s fight was far from done, using more of its well-balanced attack outside of Flores to grind out a 25-21 third set that saw both teams playing well. Flores then belted seven kills over the first 21 points of the fourth set to build a slim, 11-10 lead. Doherty connected with Levesque, Eason and Kiwanuka as teams traded points, though, and another 6-2 run to close out the frame sealed the match.