Globe Top 20 boys' volleyball poll: Milford makes biggest jump
Brookline and East Longmeadow remain the two undefeated teams remaining, outside of charter schools.
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Just outside the Top 20, Greater New Bedford (6-5) made a statement with
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The Globe's Top 20 boys' volleyball poll
The Globe poll as of April 26, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
No.
Team
Record
Previous
1.
Brookline
8-0-0
1
2.
Newton North
7-2-0
2
3.
Needham
7-2-0
3
4.
Natick
6-2-0
4
5.
Lexington
9-1-0
5
6.
St. John's (Shrewsbury)
5-6-0
7
7.
St. John's Prep
5-4-0
8
8.
Wayland
6-5-0
9
9.
Milford
8-2-0
15
10.
Cambridge
8-2-0
6
11.
Lowell
8-1-0
10
12.
New Bedford
8-2-0
11
13.
Acton-Boxborough
4-3-0
12
14.
Chelmsford
6-2-0
13
15.
Methuen
7-2-0
17
16.
BC High
4-5-0
14
17.
Winchester
6-2-0
16
18.
Newton South
5-2-0
20
19.
Latin Academy
5-4-0
18
20.
O'Bryant
4-4-0
19
AJ Traub can be reached at
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Boston Globe
11-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Congratulations to the Globe's All-Scholastics! Meet the 2025 spring athletes and coaches of the year.
Related : Over the course of the 2024-25 school year, no school had more combined athletes and coaches of the year than Concord-Carlisle, which was represented seven times (three athletes, four coaches) across three seasons. Norwell had six total selections and no other school had more than five. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advertisement Meet the Boston Globe Spring 2025 All-Scholastic teams ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Advertisement Meet the athletes of the year for Spring 2025 The 28 Spring 2025 athletes of the year hail from 23 schools. Westford is Academy represented three times (Kassidy Carmichael, girls' lacrosse; Ryan Kyle, boys' track; and Abigail Hennessy, girls' track). Norwell (Oliver Rice, boys' lacrosse; Holly Panttila, girls' lacrosse), St. John's Prep (Will Shaheen, baseball; Rudr Malayya, boys' tennis), and Wayland (Bella Camacho, girls' tennis; Finn Bell, boys' volleyball) each received two selections. For the entire 2024-25 school year, 106 Athletes of the Year were chosen from 74 schools, with Westford and Norwell leading the way with four selections each. Chelmsford, Concord-Carlisle, Needham, St. John's Prep, and St. John's (Shrewsbury) had three each. Athletes of the year: baseball Tyler Adamo, Lynnfield; Brayden Mercier, St. John's (Shrewsbury); Will Novak, Plymouth North; Will Shaheen, St. John's Prep; Matt Stuart, Chelmsford; Matt Toland, Arlington Catholic Athletes of the year: softball Bre Fontes, Joseph Case; Cate Larson, Taunton; Delaney Moquin, Silver Lake; Holly Paharik, Hopkinton; Lola Ronayne, Attleboro; Alyx Rossi, Bedford Athletes of the year: boys' lacrosse D1: Nick Emsing, BC High; D2: Kam Tremblay, Billerica; D3: Willy Robinson, Scituate; D4: Oliver Rice, Norwell Athletes of the year: girls' lacrosse D1: Kassidy Carmichael, Westford; D2: Caitlyn Naughton, Walpole; D3: Reese Bromby, Newburyport; D4: Holly Panttila, Norwell Athletes of the year: boys' track Field: Alex Jackson, Peabody; Track: Ryan Kyle, Westford Advertisement Athletes of the year: girls' track Track: Abigail Hennessy, Westford; Field: Gabrielle Pierre, Lincoln-Sudbury Athletes of the year: boys' volleyball D1: Kris Vaivars, Brookline; D2: Finn Bell, Wayland Athlete of the year: boys' tennis Rudr Malayya, St. John's Prep Athlete of the year: girls' tennis Bella Camacho, Wayland Meet the coaches of the year for Spring 2025 The 39 coaches of the year hail from 36 schools, with Billerica (Scott Arsenault, girls' track; Shaun Corum, boys' track), Lexington (Chris Pugliese, boys' tennis; James Hall, boys' track), and Manchester Essex (Wes Chittick, boys' lacrosse; Robert Bilsbury, boys' tennis) represented twice. The 115 coaches of the year from the 2024-25 school year hailed from 82 schools, with Billerica and Concord-Carlisle leading the way with four selections apiece. Hamilton-Wenham, Lexington, Medfield, Newton North, Wellesley, and Westwood had three honorees each. Coaches of the year: baseball D1: Lou DiStasi, Chelmsford; D2: Chris Costello, Walpole; D3: Eric Archambault, North Reading; D4: John O'Brien, Lynnfield; D5: Mayron Ramirez, Charlestown Coaches of the year: softball D1: Bill Milot, Bishop Feehan; D2: Tony Pina, Silver Lake; D3: Eric Archambault, North Reading; D4: John O'Brien, Lynnfield; D5: Mayron Ramirez, Charlestown Coaches of the year: boys' lacrosse D1: John Pynchon, St. John's Prep; D2: Todd Zahurak, Westwood; D3: Mark Puzzanghara, Scituate; D4: Wes Chittick, Manchester Essex Coaches of the year: girls' lacrosse D1: Erin Cash, Concord-Carlisle; D2: Rachel Monroe, Reading; D3: Dave Nicholson, Ursuline; D4: Laura Callahan, Norwell Coaches of the year: boys' tennis D1: Chris Pugliese, Lexington; D2: John Bunar, Duxbury; D3: Andy Crane, Latin Academy; D4: Robert Bilsbury, Manchester Essex Advertisement Coaches of the year: girls' tennis D1: Rob Miller, Wellesley; D2: John Tassinari, Wayland; D3: Ashley Tuccillo, Dover-Sherborn; D4: Joe Maher, Hamilton-Wenham Coaches of the year: boys' track D1: James Hall, Lexington; D2: Dennis Sheppard, Marshfield; D3: Shaun Corum, Billerica; D4: Ruben Reinoso, Wakefield; D5-6: Sean Medeiros, Old Rochester Coaches of the year: girls' track D1: Kathy Fleming, Natick; D2: Rick Dellechiaie, North Andover; D3: Scott Arsenault, Billerica; D4: Shannon Kane, Melrose; D5-6: Sean Medeiros, Old Rochester Coaches of the year: boys' volleyball D1: Lexi De La Cruz, Brookline; D2: Nate Howe, Greater Lowell Related : Related : Brendan Kurie can be reached at
Boston Globe
11-06-2025
- Boston Globe
Front and center, Brookline boys' volleyball blocks Newton North to clinch trip to Division 1 final
Related : With six blocks and three kills, Gallucci was part of a Brookline brigade in the middle with junior Liam Raybould (nine kills) that helped handle senior Simon Vardeh, who cranked out 18 kills for the No. 4 Tigers (18-6). Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Brookline will take on No. 3 Needham in Friday's state final at Xaverian (6:30 p.m.). Advertisement First-year coach Lexi De La Cruz coaches Vardeh at SMASH Volleyball Club and knew what to expect, calling upon his middles for more after the first set. 'My team fights,' he said. 'I always told them we're Brookline Warriors. Until the other team doesn't get to 25 points, we always have a chance. That's been our motto the whole season, and I think they live up to it.' 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Boston Globe
07-06-2025
- Boston Globe
Simon says ‘Smash'. Vardeh dominant for Newton North in Division 1 boys' volleyball quarterfinal win
Paul Nelson puts it over to finish the match 23-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 for Defending champion Tigers head back to the semifinals! — AJ (@aj_traub) 'We know we're the better team,' Vardeh said. 'When we play to the best of our ability, nobody can beat us.' Added Fox: [Vardeh] showed he's the best player in the state today. He showed why he's been a starter for us the last four years. He just did what he was supposed to.' Advertisement It's not the first time the Tigers (16-7) have leaned heavily on Vardeh, but Fox made the plan to keep setting him until Lexington (20-3) found a way to stop him. The Minutemen never did, even sending a triple block at one point only for Vardeh to sail the ball over their heads anyway. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We want to spread around, but after I saw they couldn't stop him, we were like 'foot on the gas,'' Fox said, 'But that's what I expected of him. 'He showed a lot of greatness these past four years, and this game really cemented it for me.' Senior Paul Nelson (50 assists, 4 kills, 2 blocks) has just been a setter this season, but also found juniors Peter Reale (7 kills, 2 blocks) and Amaris Cotto (8 kills). Advertisement 'One of my better setting games for sure,' Nelson said. 'I wouldn't say I was expecting to be at this level, the first game back [after playing libero the past couple matches], but I was pleasantly surprised.' The Tigers will face either No. 1 Brookline or No. 9 Acton-Boxborough at Concord-Carlisle High on Tuesday, as they look to prove that the team can get back to the finals without Athlete of the Year Adam Christianson and All-Scholastic middle Sam Huang, who graduated following last year's championship. 'We were playing really well,' Nelson said. 'I think if you take that to our next games, we will win.' Simon Vardeh (16) and his Newton North teammates celebrated their Final Four trophy. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff Newton North's Peter Reale (13) forces the ball past Lexington High Mahin Rajesgh. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff Lexington's High Nicholas Sanchez de Rojas (4) delivers a dig against Newton North. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff Needham 3, Taunton 1 — In an electric setting, the third-seeded Rockets (21-5) closed out their four-set quarterfinal win with hard-earning 25-22 clincher over No. 27 Taunton (18-6). '[There were] a lot of voices in the gym, a lot of people yelling, our fans and theirs,' Neeham senior Andrew Kurdziel said. 'Feeding off the crowd is something we're great at.' The Rockets were on track for a sweep, with seniors Andrew Kurdziel (11 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks) and McDonald (8 kills) working overtime at the net to take the first two sets. But Taunton turned up the pressure, supported by its spirited fans, and held onto their lead throughout the third set. 'We knew this game was going be really tough,' Needham senior Will McDonald said. 'It wasn't a surprise that they were gonna have a lot of energy. We just knew we [had to] fight back.' Taunton (18-6) bulldozed its way through the tournament and carried that energy into Friday's match. Senior Travis Johnson and junior Syre Duverna delivered 13 kills apiece to help force a fourth set. But ultimately, there was no stopping Needham's attack. Advertisement 'I don't think Needham saw our best effort today,' Taunton coach Toby Chaperon said. 'I think we kind of ran out of gas.' Needham took the lead early in the fourth set, but struggled to hold on as Taunton's senior libero, Dantae Bauer, combated the Rockets' frenzied attacks with 16 digs. But, their efforts fell short at the hands of junior Matty Cloonan (14 kills, 6 digs). 'We like the way our guys hung in there,' Needham coach Dave Powell said. 'I'm glad that we responded to their intensity with our own.' Alexa Podalsky reported from Needham . AJ Traub can be reached at
