Globe Top 20 boys' volleyball poll: Despite loss, Brookline remains at No. 1
The big win of the week, excluding the Bay State clashes, belonged to Greater Lowell, whose senior trio is clicking after a four-set victory over Acton-Boxborough. The Gryphons have won six in a row, which should improve their No. 25 power ranking in Division 2 (they were the 11-seed in last year's tournament).
Related
:
Advertisement
Records based on scores reported to the Globe.
The Globe's Top 20 boys' volleyball poll
The Globe poll as of May 10, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
No.
Team
Record
Previous
1.
Brookline
11-1-0
1
2.
Natick
11-2-0
4
3.
Needham
13-2-0
3
4.
Newton North
12-3-0
2
5.
Lexington
14-1-0
5
6.
Wayland
10-5-0
6
7.
Milford
9-6-0
7
8.
Taunton
11-1-0
8
9.
Cambridge
11-4-0
9
10.
St. John's Prep
11-5-0
10
11.
Lowell
12-1-0
12
12.
New Bedford
10-2-0
13
13.
Acton-Boxborough
7-5-0
14
14.
Methuen
11-3-0
18
15.
Chelmsford
9-3-0
15
16.
Newton South
7-5-0
17
17.
St. John's (S)
7-8-0
11
18.
Winchester
11-3-0
16
19.
BC High
7-6-0
19
20.
Greater Lowell
13-3-0
–
AJ Traub can be reached at
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
21-06-2025
- Boston Globe
By repeating, St. John's Prep boys and Wellesley girls never relinquish top spots in Globe Top 20 tennis polls
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up No. Team Record Previous 1. St. John's Prep 22-0-0 1 2. Lexington 23-2-0 4 3. Concord-Carlisle 14-4-0 5 4. Acton-Boxborough 14-2-0 2 5. Duxbury 20-3-0 10 6. Brookline 19-2-0 3 7. Winchester 17-5-0 8 8. Newton North 14-4-0 6 9. Needham 15-5-0 13 10. BC High 13-5-0 7 11. Bedford 16-4-0 14 12. Sharon 20-2-0 18 13. Hopkinton 21-1-0 9 14. Westford 9-5-0 12 15. Hingham 19-2-0 15 16. Manchester Essex 22-1-0 19 17. Wellesley 12-9-0 17 18. Weston 9-8-0 – 19. Andover 14-5-0 16 20. Bishop Feehan 12-3-0 11 Advertisement Girls' tennis After capping an undefeated season with its Lexington is No. 2 after suffering its only loss in the state final, and Newton South is No. 3 after storming through the Dual County League gauntlet before falling in the Division 1 semifinals. The DCL accounts for five of the top 10 spots, with No. 5 Westford, No. 6 Boston Latin, and No. 9 Acton-Boxborough each reaching the Division 1 quarterfinals and No. 8 Wayland advancing to the Division 2 final before falling to Longmeadow. Advertisement Other notable finishers include No. Team Record Previous 1. Wellesley 24-0-0 1 2. Lexington 21-1-0 3 3. Newton South 17-2-0 2 4. Winchester 18-4-0 9 5. Westford 16-2-0 5 6. Boston Latin 13-4-0 4 7. Lincoln-Sudbury 9-7-0 11 8. Wayland 13-6-0 12 9. Acton-Boxborough 11-6-0 8 10. Hingham 20-2-0 7 11. Notre Dame (Hingham) 18-3-0 10 12. Bishop Feehan 15-3-0 6 13. Concord-Carlisle 9-6-0 14 14. Dover-Sherborn 18-0-0 17 15. Andover 18-2-0 13 16. Hamilton-Wenham 18-2-0 – 17. Milton 12-5-0 15 18. Martha's Vineyard 19-2-0 20 19. Needham 12-5-0 16 20. St. John Paul II 22-2-0 – Matty Wasserman can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Boston Globe
St. John's Prep, Lexington advance to Division 1 boys' tennis final
Prokopis and Kouzminov rallied for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 triumph to power the top-ranked Eagles (21-0) to a 3-1 win over the fifth-ranked Patriots (14-4) in the Division 1 semifinals at Newton North High. Advertisement The second singles match between Prep junior Jack Prokopis and Concord-Carlisle sophomore Pedro Nachbin reached a third set, but did not finish due to slippery court conditions. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We lost focus, I would say, in the second set, and got ourselves behind the 8-ball,' Luke Prokopis said. 'We haven't really played any third sets this year … so it was a different experience. But we just said to get the first three games and just maintain it. So we're very happy we could close it.' Lexington doubles partners Sritan Devineni (left) and Evan Saptari celebrate after a point during Monday's Division 1 boys' tennis semifinal against Acton-Boxborough. Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo Just feet away on the Newton North courts, Lexington freshman Joshua Chen faced a similar test of resilience in his third set against Acton-Boxborough senior Rishi Dasari on the second singles court. With Lexington up 2-1 in the match and in need of one more point, Chen got a key break against Dasari to pull ahead 4-3 the third set and never looked back, capturing a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 triumph. Chen's win secured a 3-1 semifinal victory for the sixth-ranked Minutemen (23-1) over the second-ranked Revolution (14-2). Advertisement 'Once I got that break in the middle of the third set, I really found my confidence,' Chen said. 'I was really going back and forth in how I was feeling, but that [break] just made me know I could win it.' Other victories for Lexington came from freshman Daniel Lee (6-2, 6-1) at third singles, and sophomore Lucas Dai and junior Ryan Wade (6-3, 6-2) at second doubles. The first doubles match also did not finish due to court conditions. The two perennial powers will now have a rematch in the Division 1 state finals, after the Eagles handed Lexington their only loss of the season, 3-2, back on May 6. Division 2 State Duxbury 3, Hopkinton 1 — As his third singles match intensified early in the second set, Duxbury senior Taylor Bettencourt immediately felt lighter when he glanced over and saw his teammates lining the fence and hollering his name. 'I owe it all to them,' Bettencourt said. 'As soon as they started getting rowdy, that's where I started locking in and doing what I needed to do, just using that momentum.' Bettencourt pulled away for a 6-2, 6-1 victory in a captivating semifinal showdown that was closer than the score indicated — sending the fourth-seeded Dragons (19-3) to the state final for a third consecutive season. Colgate-bound senior standout Tim Vargas cruised, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, and senior Peter Burnham and sophomore Willy Pierce did the same, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles. Advertisement 'We've got some players, that's for sure,' said Duxbury coach John Bunar. 'We played very well today. This one, if we didn't have our best and they were playing well, we lose it. We played our best today.' Junior Chavdar Kamenerov and sophomore Owen Gormley won, 6-4, 6-3, at second doubles for the No. 1 Hillers (21-1), and sophomore Joe Krattenmaker led, 6-4, 1-3, before the match was called due to rain. In the state final, Duxbury will face the winner of No. 3 Sharon and No. 7 Westborough, who play Tuesday at Lexington High (weather permitting). Trevor Hass reported from Bridgewater. Matty Wasserman can be reached at
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Boston Globe
Setter Parth Pawar notches 2,000th assist, guides Acton-Boxborough boys' volleyball to comeback win
Pawar joined the team a year after it went 0-10, and now has led the program to its second trip to the state quarterfinals (reached semifinals in 2014). He found classmates Matan Worcel (10 kills) and Obi Umeh (9 kills) on the attack, helping rebound from the first-set loss. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Honestly, first-set nerves were definitely there. It was all about being confident,' Pawar said. 'With my sets and their swings, we were cautious … I was setting a bit off the net. Second set and on, we played with much more confidence. I was setting tighter which my hitters liked, more in tempo. My hitters took more aggressive swings, which helped.' Advertisement Darren Gwin was assistant coach to Mark Starr in the 2014 season, but guided A-B to this winning rally against the tough Wamps (16-6). 'I think the big thing for us was to stay calm and stay confident. Compete together,' Gwin said. 'We can be a really great team, and it came down to, no matter what happens, we need to smile, high-five, look at each other, and say we have each other's backs. When we were able to do that and not earn points for Braintree, good things ended up happening, especially when things got tight.' Advertisement A-B awaits the winner of No. 17 Newton South at No. 1 Brookline for its quarterfinal matchup. Division 2 State Latin Academy 3, Milton 0 — Timmy Lewis (9 kills), James Urbaez (8 kills, 6 aces), and Tri Duong (6 aces) led the No. 9 Dragons (12-10) to a first-round victory over No. 24 Milton (8-14). Wayland 3, Greater Lowell 1 — Finn Bell (21 kills, 2 aces), Dylan Engelhardt (9 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks), and Zach O'Donnell (37 assists, 3 blocks, 3 kills) powered the No. 3 Warriors (14-8) over No. 14 Greater Lowell (18-4) in a second round matchup, 25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-8. Boys' tennis Division 1 State Newton North 3, Westford 2 — The Newton North boys' tennis team did just enough to advance in the Division 1 tournament Monday, as the fourth-seeded Tigers edged No. 13 Westford Academy, 3-2, in a second-round contest. Newton North (14-3) got wins from freshman Colin Hwang (6-2, 6-3), junior Warren Feldman (6-0, 6-0), and seniors doubles pair Jim Greene and Gabe Lubitz (6-1, 6-1) to oust the Ghosts (10-5). St. John's Prep 5, Belmont 0 — The top-seeded Eagles (19-0) swept No. 17 Belmont (12-10) in the second round with dominant singles wins from junior Rudr Malayya (6-1, 6-0), senior Jack Prokopis (6-0, 6-0), and senior Luke Free (6-0, 6-1). The Prep completed the sweep with doubles wins from senior Luke Prokopis and junior James de Buy Wenniger (6-1, 6-3), and juniors Wade Evitts and Evan Haykal (6-4, 6-0). Advertisement Girls' tennis Division 1 State Winchester 4, Needham 1 — The No. 8 Red & Black (17-3) earned a second-round victory over ninth-seeded Needham (14-5) behind singles wins from Daryana Skobeleva (6-1, 6-0) and Andrea Bilic (6-1, 7-5), and doubles wins from Esha Bhalla and Mia Lock (6-3, 6-2), and Cate Sheehan and Avery Machemer (6-0, 6-1). Division 2 State Duxbury 4, North Attleborough 1 — The 10th-seeded Dragons (16-4) earned a second-round victory over No. 7 North Attleborough (16-4) on the strength of singles wins from Sophia Smith (6-0, 6-1) and Anna Manganello (6-2, 6-3). Duxbury's doubles duos of Audrey Hubbs and Catherine Driscoll (2-6, 6-2, 6-3), and Tiffany Strachan and Lena Harati (6-1, 7-6 [7-4]) added key wins. Wayland 4, Marblehead 1 — The second-seeded Warriors (12-5) earned a second-round victory over No. 18 Marblehead (14-5) with wins from Elena Ton (6-0, 6-2), Olivia Todd (6-1, 6-0), Yumi Niimi (6-2, 6-1), and doubles pair Emi Niimi and Rhea Sethi (7-6 [7-5], 6-0). Westborough 5, Oliver Ames 0 — The sixth-seeded Rangers (13-5) earned a second-round sweep over 11th-seeded Oliver Ames (14-4) in a match highlighted by senior Gina Hajiseyedjavady's close win over fellow senior Hannah Farber (1-6, 6-2, 7-6 [12-10] at first singles. Westborough added singles wins with Diya Bhattacharya (6-0, 6-0), Rachel Dubrovsky (6-2, 6-2), and doubles wins from Sahasra Kommineni and Evelyn Wood-Dunfey (6-0, 6-1), and Ella Glasgow and Katie Xia (6-2, 6-1). Division 4 State Hamilton-Wenham 4, Millis 1 — The fourth-seeded Generals (15-2) won their second-round matchup over No. 13 Millis (11-9) with dominant singles wins from Naomi Provost (6-1, 6-0), Emily McIntosh (6-0, 6-0), and Charlotte Ireland (6-1, 6-0). Doubles pair Olivia Romans and Evelyn Esdaile added a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory. Advertisement Ipswich 3, Sutton 2 — The No. 7 Tigers (14-4) notched a second-round victory over No. 10 Sutton (14-7) on the strength of their doubles pairs. Ipswich earned doubles wins from sisters Lila and Mae Borgman (6-3, 6-0), and Alex Marino and Frannie Hertz (6-0, 6-3). Sophie Johannknecht notched the lone singles win (6-1, 6-1). Henry Dinh-Price contributed to this report. AJ Traub can be reached at
