Young Lowell volleyball team sweeps valiant Boston Latin

LOWELL Thursday s round of boys volleyball clash between Lowell and Boston Latin was a useful barometer for Red Raider head coach Paul McCarthy as he spectators his inexperienced organization blossom on the big stage Lowell earned a - win on its home court as the Red Raiders relied on timely play in - - - sets that McCarthy believes is a product of his squad s expansion this spring Headlined by Aundre Rivera kills digs and Vitou Seng assists a Lowell gang riddled with youth gutted out a win more often yielded by a seasoned class of veterans to advance to the round of No Lowell - will likely meet No Needham in the next round of the Division state tournament as No Boston Latin - ends its season with a valiant effort on the road It could have gone either way and that s what s surprising McCarthy announced My crew is so young At the beginning of the season we d lose that match But they ve grown up a little bit The teams were knotted at eight in the first set until Lowell broke it open with a - run and never looked back to secure what would prove to be an crucial cushion ahead of the subsequent sets Logan Uy digs showcased his defensive abilities with eight digs in the frame to assistance the Red Raiders Lowell s Vitou Seng powers a kill past Boston Latin s Johnny Liang during Tuesday s Division I state tournament match in Lowell The Red Raiders swept James Thomas for the Lowell Sun It was a marathon to the finish line of the second set as both sides traded blows until Lowell clinched the - win Boston Latin s Nicolas Tse kills countered with a pair of timely kills to keep the Wolfpack alive but clutch digs by Rivera mitigated the damage to set the table for a block from Gianni Rodriguez kills six blocks to seal the win Like the previous two sets Boston Latin had an answer to an early Lowell lead in the final set while on the brink of elimination to eventually tie the contest at to trigger a back-and-forth rally to the end Seng doled out assists in the set and was the anchor of Lowell s resilience A junior captain Seng has been a key cog in Lowell s leadership group this season to mentor a young unit No one thought we were going to win and we just use it as motivation during practice and invariably try our best Seng reported Meanwhile Rivera tallied specific crucial kills including a dagger to tie the third set at amid a myriad of action to propel Lowell to conquest Any big moment kill just means a lot because we keep the competition alive and keep our tournament going Rivera commented We just don t want the season to end We want to keep on going Cory Tse digs and Ryan Nguyen assists fueled the comeback efforts for Boston Latin They really fought and I really considered the second and third set could have gone either way noted Boston Latin head coach Kai Yuen Kudos to Lowell they definitely did enough to win those sets and they move on