Getting in the swing, Cassius Costabile carries Medfield boys' volleyball past O'Bryant in Division 2
'I just have to swing right through. No matter what, as soon as I got that set, confidence went up, I made sure I swung.'
Medfield (14-7) dropped the second set, and struggled to contain Otavio Perks (31 kills) without opposite Elliot Webster, but picked it up after the second set loss.
Coach Jerry Shu believes finishing strong will give the team momentum moving forward.
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'I love these guys,' he said. 'They're a streaky, hot-cold team. When they're on, they're on. So hopefully, you know, when we get that switch, we take a little bit more caffeine and play hard when we go to whoever's next.
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Division 1 State
Lowell 3, Boston Latin 0 —
Vitou Seng (33 assists), Aundre Rivera (11 kills), and Gianni Rodriguez (10 kills, 6 blocks) lifted the No. 14 Red Raiders (19-2) to a first round victory over No. 19 Boston Latin. Ian Mao added eight kills.
Milford 3, Chelmsford 1 —
Gus Da Silva (23 kills) and Diego Inacio-Santos (15 kills) powered the No. 22 Scarlet Hawks (13-9) to a first-round win at No. 11 Chelmsford (17-4).
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Milford reached the semifinals last season and showed flashes of being a top team this season, but struggled to replicate its power ranking in the first season of the Hockomock League, where it shared the title.
'Chelmsford was a really solid team and it was hard to contain [outside] Ridty Tauch, but libero Mayck Moreira and defensive specialist Jude Moffitt passed really well to keep us in system,' said coach Andrew Mainini.
'We were really well-prepared going into the match and it paid off.'
Newton South 3, St. John's Prep 2 —
Outsides Yonatan Rotem and Levin Brenner, along with libero Yaroslav Ivanchenko kept the passing game strong for the No. 17 Lions (10-9), which earned a 17-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11 victory at No. 16 St. John's Prep (14-7). South trailed, 8-3, in the fifth, but made the comeback with Auri Suder, Ashish Uhlmann, and Udaii Abu Amara coming up with key blocks late in the match.
'We played an outstanding SJP team today, it really could have gone either way,' said coach Lucas Coffeen. 'The South boys were gritty, coming back from down two sets to one.'
Revere 3, Wachusett 0 —
Larry Claudio (14 kills, 8 assists) and Chris Choc Chavez (17 assists) propelled the No. 29 Patriots (16-5) to a preliminary victory. Juan Perez and Kawan Diaz added six kills apiece.
St. John's (Shrewsbury) 3, Springfield Central 2 —
Francis McGonagle dominated with 28 kills, 9 digs, 5 aces, and 2 blocks for the No. 23 Pioneers (10-10) in a 27-29, 28-26, 25-16, 24-26, 15-13 first round victory at No. 10 Springfield Central. Phil Vignaly added 13 kills, 5 digs, and 4 blocks, and Ani Vasudevan (43 assists, 6 blocks, 4 digs, 2 kills, 1 ace) was crucial in the 27-29, 28-26, 25-16, 24-26, 15-13 decision.
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Woburn 3, North Quincy 1 —
Marcio Castro recorded 16 kills and five blocks to power the No. 30 Tanners (14-7) to a preliminary win.
AJ Traub can be reached at
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