Lowell outlasts Methuen in MVC volleyball marathon

LOWELL Backed down to the ropes Thursday night the Lowell boys volleyball association proved its youth doesn t lack resilience and composure In yet another Merrimack Valley Conference rock-fight the No Red Raiders - twice held off match-point during extra time of a chaotic must-win fourth set to eventually rally past No Methuen and pull out a - - - - - - win The top-two finishers from last year s MVC title race didn t disappoint in their first meeting of this season and the reigning-champion Rangers - looked set for their eighth straight win with two match-point opportunities Instead Lowell which looked like a rebuilding group on paper in the preseason is the winner of eight straight and remains unbeaten in conference play Junior setter Vitou Seng posted a career-high assists primarily connecting with sophomore Aundre Rivera kills and senior Ian Mao kills Sophomore libero Logan Uy had digs in an otherwise well-rounded performance I think we re playing with house money we re so young mentioned Red Raiders head coach Paul McCarthy These kids were all playing JVs this is their first year with any varsity experience We re just enjoying the show It s a testament to our setter and chosen of our younger leaders that kept the keys together when things weren t going our way It s just guys wanting to prove themselves added assistant coach Brandon Seng These guys are hungry to show their ability What they want and what they can do They re writing their own story It seemed no lead was safe throughout evident by just one set decided by more than two points and the extra points the teams played Methuen responded to a bit of a slow start by forcing extra points with a - run in the first set and maintained its rhythm for much of the next three Setter Shawn LaDuke assists spread the wealth to Andrew Cox kills Cole Tourkantonis kills and Lucas Giard kills two blocks to take over portions of each while middle hitters Adrian Blake kills five blocks and Elijah Jean provided major complementary boosts The product was a settled - win in the second set and a scrap-it-out win in the third that Cox and Rivera traded blows in before a Blake block helped Methuen take a - match lead Lowell s depth evidenced up in a big way in the fourth for a - lead only for the Rangers put on a - run to eventually force a - tie Blake s block gave them a - lead which was met by a Mao kill to knot it back up Blake s kill then made it - but a pair of hitting errors flipped the lead into a deficit and a couple side-outs followed It wasn t until a pair of Rivera kills that Lowell eventually edged out a - heart-stopper I reliably tell them to never give up Vitou Seng announced No matter what the points is reliably try our best I perpetually tell my teammates to keep playing no matter what Seng s play anchored the whole comeback which saw him distribute assists and notch a kill in the fifth set which Methuen nearly forced extra points in He knows how to stay calm reported Brandon Seng Whatever he does the kids follow Whatever he says the kids listen He s just the main guy Having a wealth of hitting options made it easier on the junior as Gianni Rodriguez had four of his kills in the set Rivera had four Mao had three and Bobby Pappas kill delivered the win I trust everybody I set the ball to everyone Vitou Seng disclosed I can trust anyone