MILFORD – In an electric battle of premier Div. 2 state title threats Monday night, just about the only thing that could match the red within each teams’ school colors was Milford setter Owen Callahan’s face from how intensely he was flexing and screaming during a dominant fifth set.
As part of a thrilling match that saw each team trade large swings of momentum, none came by more force than Callahan’s Scarlet Hawks overpowering reigning state finalist North Quincy in the final frame for a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 15-1) nonleague win.
Callahan served on each of the last six points for Milford, adding to a 44-assist performance that helped junior Alex Guerra erupt for 29 kills.
It was the first time the Scarlet Hawks (13-4) played the Raiders (15-3) since losing to them in the Div. 2 state semifinal round last year, and much of this episode proved evenly matched.
Perhaps the only thing more meaningful than getting that revenge, though, was overcoming a distant loss in the fourth set with the winning formula in the fifth against a team expected to make another strong bid for the state crown.
“To be here (against North Quincy) is extra exciting for me and it’s extra exciting for the athletes, too. They live for these big moments,” said Milford head coach Andrew Mainini. “My guys have the mentality to battle with anyone. We might not always come out on the winning side, but we’re not going to give up. We’re going to keep fighting. I’m really excited to come away with that win.”
Tempers flared in the third set from a controversial call, sparking up a playoff-esque energy in the gym that fueled play. Milford took the point and the set, and North Quincy responded with the largest differential of the match by that time with a 25-18 win in the fourth.
But the Scarlet Hawks were ready to steal back the momentum when it mattered most.
After a whole game of Guerra giving the Raiders trouble at the net, the junior dialed up seven kills in the fifth to anchor the 15-1 win. It wasn’t until after an 8-0 start to the frame that North Quincy earned a point, and it came on a Milford service error.
Cameron Johnston (18 kills) and Nate Caldwell (12 kills) led a productive attack around setter Bobby Lin (39 assists) most of the way for North Quincy, but couldn’t seem to get anything past Milford’s blocking with the game on the line. Joey Newman picked up two of his five blocks in the frame, Callahan and Guerra each added one, and Ryan Franklin proved just as effective in a big performance all night.
“In between the fourth and fifth set, (Callahan) saidm ‘This is what we came for, we need this,’ and I think that set the tone,” Mainini said. “We had a pretty tough fourth set, but that fifth set, we came out and made a couple big plays and just sucked up all the momentum in the room.”
Up until the final two frames, fans could flip a coin for the winner with how tightly the teams played. Liam Bailey and Dylan Clifford gave Lin a large arsenal of weapons to help edge out the first set. Milford kept crawling back, and it used that tenacity to even the match at 1-1 with a big offensive boost from Guerra, Newman and Arthur Gomes (12 kills).