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State Semifinal

NASHUA — Timberlane will get to defend its state volleyball championship, against Hollis-Brookline, but it wasn't easy getting to that position.

The Number 1-seed Owls rallied from a loss in the first game to Windham Thursday night and then survived a fifth game with a nerve-wracking 20-18 victory to advance to Saturday's 6 p.m. finals back here at Nashua North High School.

"I'm exhausted and i think a lot of other people are, too," said Timberlane coach John Dube."This was a tough, tough match, but I thought the good thing was that our kids showed a lot of resilience. That's one thing that's been characteristic of them all year."'

Junior Sam Hovan was the leader at the net with 30 kills, a number that Dube believes must be a school record, and he also led the way in blocks with four.

"Sam was a beast tonight — he's a special player, but we had a lot of guys step up," said Dube. Ryan Doherty and Dan Jordan really helped Sam at the net and, for a first-year varsity guy Matt Perry had an incredible game."

All was not smooth sailing for Timberlane, however. The Owls missed 19 serves, a number that will need to be reduced Saturday against Hollis-Brookline, which handed Timberlane one of its two regular season losses.

"We need to do better with that to win (Saturday)," said Dube. "Giving away 19 points is like giving away an entire game."

Windham (14-4), which was clearly one of the surprise teams of the year, was led by sophomore Luke Leonard with 10 kills and four blocks.

"It was a good match but Timberlane is the No. 1 seed for a reason and they played like it," said Windham coach Matt Bynon. "But we have a young team and we'll learn from this."