DORCHESTER – Even Methuen's most successful boys volleyball team from last year, which was the best since 2006, had not won all their games at this point in the regular season.
By winning 3-1 (with scores 26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 25-17) against BC High on Friday night, the 14th-ranked Rangers improved to 8-0, boosting their confidence for the upcoming state tournament. They hope to do better than last year's second-round exit.
James Levesque (18 kills) and Drew Eason (13 kills, five blocks) played well, while Shawn Laduke (42 assists) connected with other players to win against the Division 1 team. Mason Cleary stood out with 21 kills for the Eagles (5-2), and Matt Kovacev was one of several players who handled BC High’s powerful hits.
“These guys, they came into the season, I was getting phone calls in the fall – they couldn't wait to come back,” said Methuen head coach Matthew Twomey. “This team is into it, and they really believe they can do something really special this year. They’re just all in.”
“(Confidence), it skyrockets,” Levesque added. “We knew they’re one of the top teams in the state, and we knew that we haven’t really proved much yet, just playing (Merrimack Valley Conference) teams. So coming out here and showing up against great competition out of the MVC and winning like that, it gives us a bunch of confidence.”
The first set was very close, with Mason Cleary and Ben Cleary helping the Eagles compete with the Rangers. Methuen had a 17-14 lead but BC High caught up with a 5-0 run. Levesque got three kills to tie the score at 22-22, and Eason’s kill and block along with a Lucas Giard kill secured the 26-24 win.
BC High started the second set well, taking a 5-1 lead due to Rangers' errors. They then built a 14-6 lead with a couple of Mason Cleary kills, and two more increased it to 16-9.
However, Methuen fought back, taking advantage of errors from the Eagles and scoring points through Eason to tie the game at 16-16. Mason Cleary then took the lead 23-21, but Giard and Eason's kills and a Jack Flynn block led to a 25-23 win.
“I think if we had lost the second set, there was a good chance BC High would’ve pulled out the match,” Twomey said. “I didn’t expect us to get down that big, and then they really picked it up.”
BC High did not lose their lead in the third set, winning 25-18 with the help of eight kills from the Clearys and assists from Martin Alvarez and Pedro Araoju.
Methuen’s strength was evident in the fourth set. Giard, Levesque, and Andrew Cox contributed to a 12-8 lead, and Giard, Flynn, and Eason added more to counter BC High’s Liam Poole. They finished with an 8-1 run, winning the set 25-17 and securing the match.
“(Depth) is significant,” Levesque stated. “We used to be simply athletes who play volleyball, now we’re volleyball players who participate in other sports.”
