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Methuen wanted a third shot at unbeaten Central Catholic but had to earn it last night in the Division 1 North volleyball quarterfinals.
On the road at Peabody, the Rangers were forced to shake off some early nerves but still managed to tame the Tanners in three straight, 25-21, 27-25 and 25-12.
"We started a little slow and we actually were down 24-22 in game 2," said Ranger coach Matt Twomey. "Once we settled down with our passing and defense, they really couldn't keep up with us."
Rashidat Agboola was all over the net with 15 kills and seven blocks. Courtney Murach and Ashley Leblanc, who laced a career-best eight kills anchored the front for the Rangers.
Thursday, Methuen gets a third shot at the 19-0 Raiders at Central.

Athletic midfielders Zac Iovanella and Tom O'Connell are making things happen, which is translating to North Andover victories like its 9-5 defeat of Peabody. The pair are playing strong defense and transitioning the ball well to John Carney (three goals and an assist), Alex Blane (two goals and two assists) and Tyler Zahoruiko (goal and three assists) to pump up the scoring for the Scarlet Knights (15-4).

Joe Clancy led Newburyport (3-1) with 26 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, and three assists. The Clippers advanced to the final of the Tanner Tournament. They will meet Marblehead tonight (8 p.m., Peabody).

A win over Malden Catholic on the holiday would give the host Tanners five victories this season, the most since they went 8-2 during the 2004 season.

Just as she's done all season, Jadith Lorenzo stole the show as Lawrence defeated Peabody 25-23, 25-14, 25-20 to advance to the Division 1 North semifinals. Lorenzo finished with 26 kills, 17 service points, 13 assists and 7 aces.

PEABODY | The situation was just what the Peabody High softball team was hoping for.

The end result, however, was not.

Despite loading the bases in the final inning, the Tanners couldn't push the tying run across and fell to visiting Methuen, 5-4, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals at Kiley Field.

PEABODY | The Gloucester softball team was hoping history would repeat itself in Saturday's Division 1 North first-round matchup against Peabody.

No. 19 Gloucester had previously beaten the third-seeded Tanners in the regular season and were hoping to send them home early in the postseason. But unfortunately for the Fishermen, the Tanners had other plans.

ANDOVER | As Andover knelt in a circle during halftime yesterday, there was one clear message throughout the team.

"We needed to get the jitters out of our system and just relax," said Golden Warriors head coach Wayne Puglisi. "We needed to take a deep breath, stay focused, maintain our composure and tell ourselves, 'We can do this.' "

PEABODY | At the crack of the bat, it looked and sounded perfect.

With the Peabody High baseball team trailing by a run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning of yesterday's Division 1 North first round contest against  Newton North, Pat Yeo laced a torpedo towards left field that had the Tanners thinking walk-off win.

PEABODY | For a moment no one, including Peabody's Mark D'Addario, knew where the ball was.

Weymouth's short-stick midfielder, Mike Guilfoy, was attached to D'Addario's hip as the Tanners' middie gradually curled toward the visitor's goal. As D'Addario neared the point of firing, Guilfoy lifted his stick up and over the head of D'Addario and slashed down on his opponent's stick.