In 2022, despite a 1-11 record in 2021 and just three seasons above .500 since 2006, Methuen boys volleyball head coach Matt Twomey envisioned the program winning the Merrimack Valley Conference within the next couple years while gunning for a state title.
Just a few days after finalizing the roster, he called the team’s sophomores into his office. Led by a budding football star in Drew Eason and a longtime baseball pitcher trying a new sport in James Levesque, Twomey told the group that while their hard work wouldn’t translate into wins right away, he promised they would be MVC champions and a state title contender as seniors.
They went on to finish the year much improved at 8-13 with a first-round state tournament exit. In the next season, they won their most regular season games since 2006 (12). And now, the Rangers end the regular season at 18-2, claiming their first MVC title since 1998 within the program’s winningest season ever.
That meeting with Eason, Levesque, senior libero Matt Kovacev and senior Arthur Cassarano set the tone for a major turnaround.
“(Twomey) said senior year should be incredible … that he saw a lot of potential in us,” Eason said. “For us, we kind of were on the competitive side, we really wanted to take (the program) to the next level and just win games. … (Twomey) pushes us to be the best we can, and he’s been a huge part of our success.”
“I remember that vividly,” Levesque added. “He was like, ‘Your senior year, we’re going for everything, a state championship, an MVC championship, everything.’ Kind of seeing (our) follow through with that is just amazing.”
Levesque says the team used to be a group of high-level athletes playing volleyball, but is now a team of high-level volleyball players being high-level athletes.
Finding premier athletes to walk through the gym doors has never been much of an issue. Getting them to play before their senior year so they could develop the skills to be great, not just good, has been the major obstacle that’s limited the program.
That’s why resetting it two years ago by building through a young core was so important to Twomey.
“We got to the point where every year we’re losing 10 seniors, we’re losing nine seniors, we’re losing 12 seniors one year and only coming back with two players,” he said. “I was like, we can’t survive like this. … We wanted to start having instead of just a bunch of seniors on the team, we would have a mix of guys coming back.”
It didn’t take long for Levesque to love the sport since trying out his sophomore year. He’s developed into one of the state’s leading outside hitters and is committed to play Div. 3 volleyball at Rivier University. Eason, an athletic force and talented hitter, could also play collegiate volleyball if he wasn’t committed to Stonehill for football.
Junior Shawn LaDuke has thrived in his first year starting at setter. Lucas Giard, Jack Flynn and Andrew Cox are strong and athletic complementary hitting options around Eason and Levesque, while Kovacev anchors the defense as a second-year starter.
“We all bring different dynamics of our other sports into it, but we don’t talk about it or anything like that,” Levesque said. “During spring, we’re all volleyball players and volleyball players only.”
“Honestly, I think this is the hardest-working team I’ve ever been a part of,” Eason added. “Everyone’s super driven, super motivated, no one’s missed a single day of practice.”
It’s turned into a No. 6 spot in the last set of MIAA Div. 1 power rankings before brackets are released Tuesday and a special season to remember.
Twomey played for Methuen his senior year back in 1996 and used that experience to start for four years in college. He had never won an MVC title and the coaching staff’s desire to win it rubbed off on the players.
Sweeping two-time defending champion Lowell on May 17 earned a share of the title. Beating Lawrence on the following Monday secured it outright.
“The real pride for us is that we took our lumps for so long that it feels really good to have our names mentioned with some of the teams that are some of the best in the state right now,” Twomey said. “There’s a lot of pride in having your name mentioned in the conversation.”
“It felt like it wasn’t given easy to us at all, we truly had to work for it,” Eason added. “All the other schools get a ton of respect and get talked about all the time. Even when we were winning, it still felt like we weren’t getting recognized. … We wanted to prove everyone wrong and this proves that we can get it done.”
Levesque added: “It’s something I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids one day. Just being able to reflect on that like, we did it when we were counted out at the beginning of the season by a bunch of people.”
Yet, the first practice after beating Lawrence was one of Methuen’s toughest of the year. Twomey is willing to bet no other team practices as hard as the Rangers, and players run for every unforced error they commit in the previous game.
“Things don’t come easy, things only get harder as you go,” Eason said. (Twomey) didn’t want us to be satisfied because he knows there’s more left on the plate, there’s still more to obtain. He really wants us to stay disciplined and keep us moving so that we can hopefully get to that state championship like we all want.”
Side-outs
The regular season concluded Friday. Brackets will be released Tuesday at 11 a.m. … By beating Natick on the last day of the regular season, Needham is still undefeated over the last four years against every team outside of Newton North. … New Bedford ended the regular season 20-0, securing the state’s only unbeaten schedule.
