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Swift Justice Incomparable Salem whips Owls for sixth straight title

By Dave Dyer

DERRY, N.H. — The championship beat goes on for the Salem boys volleyball team.

With Conor Dube doing the serving, No. 2 seed Timberlane scored the first seven points of the match on its way to the sweep of Londonderry.
Junior Max LaRoche was the surprise big gun for the Owls with 11 kills and two blocks and Joe Morin chipped in with two kills and a block in a key five-point streak in the second game when Londonderry was threatening to tie up the match.
“Max was only JV last year, and we weren’t sure what to expect, but we stuck him in the middle and he’s been fantastic,” said Timberlane coach John Dube. “He’s been much better than we expected.”
Senior Terry Matatall finished with 10 kills but, like a couple of his teammates, wasn’t quite as effective as usual. That may have been a good thing, however, according to their coach.
And, said Matatall, “I feel we know what to expect having been in the finals last year. I’m confident we can beat them. We’ve gotten a lot better since the last time we played them.”
For Londonderry, which made several nice runs in the match, Matt Hersey had eight kills to lead the front line. The Lancers finished 12-6, which was a nice turnaround from 2008 (6-11).
“We played pretty well, but it was too hard to come back from that early deficit,” said Londonderry coach David Starin.

With nothing less than a trip to the finals being acceptable, Timberlane's boys volleyball team had no trouble knocking Souhegan from the Division 1 playoffs with a 3-0 quarterfinal victory. Terry Matatall (10 kills and 2 blocks) was his usual force, and outside hitters Tim Anderson and Matt Dionne kicked off a first-game 10-point run to quickly lock down the victory. Now at 15-2, the second seed Owls will face No. 3 Londonderry Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pinkerton Academy in the semifinals.

Matt Dionne's consistent play all over the court was a leading contributor to Timberlane's 3-0 decision over Souhegan. The senior finished with 12 kills, 11 service points and 2 blocks for the Owls (14-2).

Terry Matatall dominated the net, roping 10 kills with five blocks in Timberlane's straight-set volleyball demolition of Pinkerton Academy.

Preparing for its Homecoming weekend clash with undefeated Salem Saturday, Timberlane easily dispatched of Mascenic, 3-0. "We got a good group effort," Owl head coach John Dube said. "We had good defense from everybody and we spread the ball around offensively. Everybody stood out and played well as a team."

Rebounding from a third game "meltdown," as Timberlane head coach John Dube termed it, the Owls persevered for a 3-1 victory over Londonderry. Terry Matatall (14 kills) came up with crucial net points to swing momentum back to Timberlane (10-1) while Max LaRoche (seven blocks) provided consistent contributions. Mark Cwalinski (30 assists, 15 service points and 3 digs) was a force on the backline for the Lancers (6-4).

Timberlane boys volleyball took over possession of second place with a 3-0 win over Pinkerton. Conor Dube, Matt Dionne and Max Laroche led the way.

In an early battle of unbeatens, Salem survived a mid-match challenge from Timberlane to prevail, 25-15, 25-21, 25-11.

The Blue Devils (4-0, 97 straight victories including playoffs) ruled in every area of play. Chris Barnes had a career-high 34 assists while adding six blocks and three digs. Dan Tiner (14 kills and seven blocks) commanded the net and C.J. DeMarco (11 digs and a 98 percent passer rating) was strong on the back line.

Timberlane's Conner Dude paced the team with 46 Assists. Terry Matatall had 18 kills, Tim Anderson 17 Kills and Matt Dionne had 12 kills in a good win for Timberlane as they improve to 2-0.