Volleyball notebook: Hard work allows Lowell to overcome loss of 14 seniors

Every Saturday morning it s the same calculated and intentional routine Stretch Laps Rotate between four high-intensity stations core weights stairs and jump ropes for an hour And then after the Lowell boys volleyball unit is good and tired the Red Raiders get to the volleyball Knowing the battles the tight Merrimack Valley Conference presents on a nightly basis longtime head coach Paul McCarthy and assistant coach Brandon Seng emphasize the exhaustion players will face in fourth and fifth sets and the need to be able to deliver through it The Red Raiders didn t enter the season as the reigning MVC champs for the first time in two years and they required to take the title back Every match mattered Well despite graduating seniors and starting an entirely different unit with little varsity experience Lowell - edged Methuen and Chelmsford to do just that The revolving door of rock fights in the MVC forced the Red Raiders to at least a fourth set in of its games and they fought off fatigue with a - mark Junior standout setter Vitou Seng who Brandon Seng credits as the central stabilizing force feels those Saturday practices are the X-factor for them this year Sophomore standout libero Logan Uy echoes that by attributing the success to the hard work in every practice The proof is in the pudding It s a breath of fresh air for me McCarthy mentioned These kids have put so much enthusiasm into their work They just love the meeting they feed off of that It s great to see them commit Saturday morning practices are not easy and they ve had good attendance all year long They ve made the commitment to the activity The Lowell boys volleyball gang celebrates a - win over Westford Academy The Red Raiders went on to win the MVC James Thomas for the Lowell Sun There was plenty of chatter in the area over the offseason about how vulnerable Lowell would be this year having just four seniors two in the rotation and significantly little returning varsity experience McCarthy who inevitably puts a great respect and admiration on the challenge of winning the MVC even stated in the preseason that Lowell could be headed to a total rebuild this year Losing seniors is quite a turnover Needless to say he s been pleasantly surprised and proud After a five-set loss to Div threat Cambridge Lowell didn t drop a set over the next four games Against a loaded Chelmsford group that entered the year as the MVC favorite the Red Raiders took the match in four Three games later against Methuen they overcame a - deficit to edge out a - win bolstered by a - fourth set They won straight games up until Chelmsford took a match back on May but a - win over Methuen two games later avoided a three-team tie and sealed the highly-coveted title We kind of took the rebuild narrative to heart so we kept practicing every day announced Vitou Seng We used it as motivation We kept striving we never gave up We just kept fighting We knew we could do it since the beginning of the season Uy added We knew who we were going up against we knew what we had to do to beat those teams Just working hard every single practice Filling in the shoes of graduated All-Scholastic setter Tyrell Lout at setter was a tall task but Vitou Seng who got a little time behind him last year on varsity has excelled with assists per encounter total Uy has gotten the ball to him effectively with digs per challenge total which Seng has dispersed among a deep lineup of hitters Sophomore Aundre Rivera has stood out with a team-best kills per event total this year as well as digs total Seniors Ian Mao kills digs and Gianni Rodriguez kills are right behind him while middles Angel So blocks and Bobby Pappaconstantinou blocks have led the defense at the net along with Seng blocks Brandon Seng declared after the first win over Methuen that these players just yearned to write their own story in the campaign s decorated lore and to prove themselves They ve been preparing for this even well before this year through countless hours of pick-up volleyball and the junior varsity venture For this group to go where they have at this age is how we take our time and coach the JV gang Brandon Seng declared We treat them as one not as two different programs That s how I feel like these guys were ready to go And once they experienced the winning at the varsity level it was just contagious Unity has been at the heart of this year too throughout the entire scheme For these guys to pick it up as a new core together is really impressive Brandon Seng declared They have the same mindset and goal It s tough to get eight to guys to have the same mindset that want to win that want to do good And they push each other every day I think we re all on the same page because we all want to win state s Vitou Seng added Last year we went to state s but we lost to Brookline This is a major factor because all of us were on JV just watching knowing this is where we re going to be this year Lowell was only ranked No in the last set of MIAA Div power rankings before tournament pairings drop on Tuesday but there s a state-wide belief that the path to at least the state quarterfinals is parity-ridden The Red Raiders already proved themselves once They re excited for the challenge of doing it again One Cleary to another Until graduating last year former star outside hitter Mason Cleary was instrumental in helping lift the BC High activity to new heights Younger brother Ben Cleary has followed suit By notching kills on Friday Ben snapped Mason s single-season kills record reaching with the state tournament still on the horizon Ben became the fastest in operation history to reach career kills anchoring an - group with expected to make various noise in the tourney He s transitioned into a full-time six rotation outside hitter and has really stepped up his offensive production revealed BC High head coach James Chen He puts the unit on his back in every big moment leading by example You can see his passion for the challenge and how he wants the organization to succeed Rosa making mark with Whalers New Bedford head coach Ben Kaeterle felt in the preseason that his group could have a special year with all the expansion and experience it returned from a - season last year Nick Rosa is one of the central figures Kaeterle referred to and the outside hitter has soared within an - mark against a stronger schedule His th career kill came in a - sweep of Barnstable to avenge a surprising earlier loss and now his career kills are away from current the longtime operation s all-time mark The Whalers ended the regular season on an -game win streak which Rosa has led the attack within on just about a nightly basis Rosa has been a go-to hitting option and has developed into a composed and mature volleyball member Kaeterle commented He s freakishly athletic and taken his overall championship to the next level this year front row and back row