LOWELL — There was bound to be rust after neither team had played a match in 10 days, but the Lowell boys volleyball team showed no shortage of tenacity Monday night against Chelmsford to secure a meaningful Merrimack Valley Conference win.
Behind strong play at the net, from senior Cody Fitzpatrick’s team-high 18 kills to the team’s 16 blocks for points, the No. 10 Red Raiders (6-1) overcame several runs from visiting No. 16 Chelmsford to take a 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-15, 27-25) win.
Senior Tyrell Lout dished out 45 assists and three others posted at least eight kills for Lowell, which needed a late rally on game-point in the fourth set to stave off the Lions (5-2) from forcing a fifth.
Seniors were at the forefront.
“It means a lot to us,” said Red Raiders head coach Paul McCarthy. “We preach about ‘Our house’ and to have some pride for (the home court). And we don’t give up. It was very nice to see the seniors step in. (Fitzpatrick) puts on a show.”
For as well as Jack MacPhee (34 assists) and Liam Quinn (game-high 19 kills) played to help Chelmsford put on a bevy of runs throughout, the first and third sets seemed to be a breeze for Lowell. A 12-0 stretch in the first set all but sealed a 25-15 win and the third finished with the same score after runs of 5-0 and then 6-0 separated the Red Raiders from an early back-and-forth.
Walter Palacio (nine kills, three aces, three blocks) played a big role with his serving in the first set, while Lout got in a rhythm in the third with Fitzpatrick. The net presence from Dennis Seng (four blocks), Palacio, Ceazar Joseph (eight kills, four blocks) and Ayden Ruom (nine kills, four blocks) was a major boost as well.
“The blocking, I love the blocking,” McCarthy said. “It makes such a difference.”
The other two sets are really when Lowell had to earn it, though, trailing big in both.
It couldn’t catch up in the second set after Chelmsford went on a 6-0 run to lead 23-18, even with Palacio and Seng stepping up to lead a 5-1 run before falling 25-23. The fourth set was a different story.
MacPhee, Quinn and Ridty Tauch (seven kills) led a 14-8 advantage in need of a win. Joseph and Ruom traded blocks in a 3-0 run, only for MacPhee to facilitate an 18-13 Chelmsford lead. Fitzpatrick was utilized heavily with five kills to work to a 22-20 deficit, but another Quinn kill and a Lowell error had Chelmsford at set-point.
Lowell got the next four points from Joseph, Ruom, Palacio and a close-call on a Lions hitting error, and then three of the next four to secure the match.
“We made an adjustment, the middle came up big today,” McCarthy said. “It was nice to see them all play together. Everybody knows about (Fitzpatrick), he’s not a secret like he was last year. So everybody else has stepped up, and they’re growing up a bit. It’s pretty nice.”
Libero Eric Nguyen played a major role out of the back row for Lowell as well. Sophomore Matt Lam added six kills and two blocks for Chelmsford.
