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In the winner-take-all fifth volleyball game, Troy Rooney (four straight points), Mike Galluzzo (three points) and Matt Hersey (final four points including two aces) came through as Londonderry edged Timberlane. The Lancers finish with their most regular season victories (13). Conor Dube (35 assists) helped keep the Owls close.

Salem closed out its battle with Pinkerton strong as Alex Gomes was moved to setter and had 25 assists in the last two games while sophomore Eric Denning was 4 for 4 serving in a 3-1 victory. Rory Cohoon paced the Astros with 7 service points, 6 kills and 3 blocks.

LAWRENCE — After losing in the Division 1 North semifinals three of the past four years, the Lawrence boys volleyball team finally found its way into the championship game.

But the berth didn’t come easy.

The magnitude of what had just happened didn’t hit Conor Dube until he saw a former teammate. Just moments after putting an end to the area’s longest high school volleyball winning streak, Dube received a big congratulations from former teammate and current Lasell College player Alex Mill who proclaimed “you just made history!!!” And that’s what Timberlane did. The host Owls not only ended Salem’s 125-match streak, a streak that started when the program began seven years ago, but they did it in stunning fashion by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win the last three games, 25-23, 25-23, 15-12. “It is really amazing,” said Dube a senior who is on his way to Princeton this fall. “This is one of the biggest nights in Timberlane volleyball history, to this point.” The Owls (12-2) dropped the first two games, 25-18 and 28-26, before bouncing back. Max LaRoche and Joe Coye each led Timberlane with 12 kills and 10 blocks each. Dube had 35 assists and Tom Matatall had 28 service points and 15 digs. “After a couple of minutes of celebrating, it hit me what we just did,” said LaRoche, who will attend Boston University this fall. “It was exhilarating.  All the students just came out of the stands on to the floor. It was great.” The Owls feature a very small roster, with only 11 players and only two with prior varsity experience prior to this year, according to Owl head coach John Dube. “Even when we were down 2-0 (in games) we knew that we just had to be steady and consistent,” said coach Dube. “We didn’t do anything different in games three, four and five. “We just have a lot of heart on this team. I am so proud of this team, they just kept plugging away.” I felt that fourth game was the key for us,’ said John Dube. “The guys all felt ‘we’ve got this.’  It was pretty amazing to watch.” Although they won’t dominate the stat sheet, Clay Campbell and Tim Sullivan each came up with some key kills in the fourth and fifth games. Erik Kaasila registered four huge blocks in the last two games. Gracious in defeat, Salem head coach Scott Wright said that this loss will be a good test for his team. “(The end of the winning streak) was going to happen, eventually,” said Wright. “I am more anxious to see how the kids react to this loss when we play again on Tuesday. Their reaction will be more important than the streak.” Wright also tipped his hat to a solid Timberlane team.  “They looked hungrier than we did,” he said. “They certainly had a lot of heart and hustle. They made some good game adjustments and covered their blockers. “We gave up a lot of points and couldn’t come back from the deficit,” said Wright. Zack Meisner and Corey Forrest led Salem with 17 kills each. Joe Gallant had nine blocks and Alex Gomes had 45 assists. LaRoche and Conor Dube said they will celebrate, but not lose focus of the bigger picture.   “Obviously, it is a great win,” said the younger Dube.  “But it is a regular season league win. It is something that we can celebrate but Monday we have to get back to work. There is a bigger picture at the end of the regular season and the playoffs.”

The No. 1 seeded Haverhill boys volleyball team prevailed 3-2 over MVC foe and No. 12 seed Andover in the semifinals of the  Division 1 North volleyball tournament.

The No. 2 Lawrence volleyball team swept No. 10 Cambridge 3-0 to advance to the Division 1 North semifinals.

Abimael Villa recorded 12 kills while Jose Vargas added eight kills and had nine blocks.

No. 12 Andover boys volleyball posted a 3-0 upset victory over No. 4 St. John's Prep in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North volleyball tournament.

Joe Kuykendall posted 11 kills, Connor Sullivan had eight blocks and Colin Rivet dug 11 balls.

Pinkerton saved its most clutch play for when it counted, the decisive fifth game, rebounding from a three-point deficit to beat Oyster River, 15-11, and win, 3-2. Sophomore outside hitter Justin Scott (10 kills) had four kills in the deciding game and Teddy McCarron (9 service points, 8 kills and 3 aces) added three including last two points of game.

Cory Forrest posted 10 kills and 10 digs to lead Salem boys volleyball past Londonderry 3-0. Salem remains perfect at 12-0. 

The Central Catholic boys volleyball team continues to feast on non-league opponents in the North sectional, blanking Boston Latin Academy 3-0. Ryan Barbera had 24 assists and 13 service points for the Raiders (14-6), who will face the winner of today's Lawrence-Cambridge Rindge& Latin matchup.

Haverhill's No. 1-seed boys volleyball team won its first test, whipping Chelmsford in three games. 25-22, 25-14, 25-12 to adnace to the Division 1 North semifinals against the Andover-St. John's Prep winner. Brett Pettis led the Hillies (18-1) with nine kills, 10 digs and four servicre aces.

Joe Dube's six aces led Salem, which tallied 23 aces as a team on the way to downing John Stark 25-8, 25-8, 25-6.

Max LaRoche led Timberlane volleyball in kills (12), blocks (3) and service points (11) as the Owls won 3-0 over Souhegan. 

In Pinkerton's runaway volleyball victory over John Stark, Kyle Evans registered four kills in his first varsity start and Rick Murray got his first kill and first block of the season.

Max LaRoche was a monster all over the court, leading Timberlane in four categories as part of a 3-1 volleyball voctiry over Keene. Joe Coye contributed 10 service points and 10 kills to the Owls victory.