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Prepped for success

No. 1 St. John's Prep 3,
No. 3 Chelmsford 1

LAWRENCE -- For the second year in a row, St. John's Prep owned the volleyball courts in the North.

The defending state champs took care of third-seeded Chelmsford, not in easy fashion, however, in four tight games 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, in the North sectional final Monday night at Central Catholic High School.

The Lions made a bid to upset the top-seeded Prep, particularly in the first game as they trailed, 8-4, then came back to tie the game at 8.

Chelmsford senior outside hitter, DJ Olson had five kills in the game along with two aces. The Lions would get some breathing room later, leading by four points at 15-11 and forcing Prep coach Andrew Viselli to call a time out.

"My team doesn't get rattled... our passes were terrible and I was just reminding them what they had to do," said Viselli. "These kids don't get fazed."

Prep rebounded (after giving up another two points to the Lions) to tie up the score at 17. It would be deadlocked another two times before the Eagles escaped the Lions' clutches as Chelmsford pulled ahead, 21-20, and stayed ahead for the 25-22 victory.

Chelmsford never went down quietly and statistics sure showed. Senior Tyler Jones racked up 14 kills, while Olson added 13. Both Jones and Olson were on overdrive on the defensive end as well accumulating a total of 26 digs combined.

Setter Jeremy Velasquez went crazy with the assists, as he registered 47 on the night.

Prep's setter, Sean O'Connor, topped Velasquez in assists with 49 on the night. In addition, four Eagles scored double digits in kills.

Craig Harvey killed 15 balls and Skylar Murphy, Phillip Ellison, and Sean Bishop all had 12 kills apiece.

Numerous times in the match, the referees reversed calls and St. John's Prep seemed to get the better of the decisions.

"Crucial points at crucial times," stressed Chelmsford coach Matt Dibble. "We were called for going underneath the net after a kill, which gave St. John’s the point and every point counted."

In Game 4, it appeared the Eagles started to wear out Chelmsford, as they quickly turned a tenuous one-point lead into a six-point advantage at 17-11. The Lions closed the gap to 22-20, but the Prep prevailed, earning the trophy and trip to the state tournament, where it will face Natick.

In the other state semifinal, South champion Newton North will meet West champ Agawam, as the Brownies defeated Belchertown 3-1 Monday at Holyoke Community College.