Setter Parth Pawar notches 2,000th assist, guides Acton-Boxborough boys' volleyball to comeback win

Boston Globe

03-06-2025

Pawar joined the team a year after it went 0-10, and now has led the program to its second trip to the state quarterfinals (reached semifinals in 2014). He found classmates Matan Worcel (10 kills) and Obi Umeh (9 kills) on the attack, helping rebound from the first-set loss.
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'Honestly, first-set nerves were definitely there. It was all about being confident,' Pawar said. 'With my sets and their swings, we were cautious … I was setting a bit off the net. Second set and on, we played with much more confidence. I was setting tighter which my hitters liked, more in tempo. My hitters took more aggressive swings, which helped.'
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Darren Gwin was assistant coach to Mark Starr in the 2014 season, but guided A-B to this winning rally against the tough Wamps (16-6).
'I think the big thing for us was to stay calm and stay confident. Compete together,' Gwin said. 'We can be a really great team, and it came down to, no matter what happens, we need to smile, high-five, look at each other, and say we have each other's backs. When we were able to do that and not earn points for Braintree, good things ended up happening, especially when things got tight.'
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A-B awaits the winner of No. 17 Newton South at No. 1 Brookline for its quarterfinal matchup.
Division 2 State
Latin Academy 3, Milton 0 —
Timmy Lewis (9 kills), James Urbaez (8 kills, 6 aces), and Tri Duong (6 aces) led the No. 9 Dragons (12-10) to a first-round victory over No. 24 Milton (8-14).
Wayland 3, Greater Lowell 1 —
Finn Bell (21 kills, 2 aces), Dylan Engelhardt (9 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks), and Zach O'Donnell (37 assists, 3 blocks, 3 kills) powered the No. 3 Warriors (14-8) over No. 14 Greater Lowell (18-4) in a second round matchup, 25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-8.
Boys' tennis
Division 1 State
Newton North 3, Westford 2 —
The Newton North boys' tennis team did just enough to advance in the Division 1 tournament Monday, as the fourth-seeded Tigers edged No. 13 Westford Academy, 3-2, in a second-round contest.
Newton North (14-3) got wins from freshman Colin Hwang (6-2, 6-3), junior Warren Feldman (6-0, 6-0), and seniors doubles pair Jim Greene and Gabe Lubitz (6-1, 6-1) to oust the Ghosts (10-5).
St. John's Prep 5, Belmont 0 —
The top-seeded Eagles (19-0) swept No. 17 Belmont (12-10) in the second round with dominant singles wins from junior Rudr Malayya (6-1, 6-0), senior Jack Prokopis (6-0, 6-0), and senior Luke Free (6-0, 6-1). The Prep completed the sweep with doubles wins from senior Luke Prokopis and junior James de Buy Wenniger (6-1, 6-3), and juniors Wade Evitts and Evan Haykal (6-4, 6-0).
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Girls' tennis
Division 1 State
Winchester 4, Needham 1 —
The No. 8 Red & Black (17-3) earned a second-round victory over ninth-seeded Needham (14-5) behind singles wins from Daryana Skobeleva (6-1, 6-0) and Andrea Bilic (6-1, 7-5), and doubles wins from Esha Bhalla and Mia Lock (6-3, 6-2), and Cate Sheehan and Avery Machemer (6-0, 6-1).
Division 2 State
Duxbury 4, North Attleborough 1 —
The 10th-seeded Dragons (16-4) earned a second-round victory over No. 7 North Attleborough (16-4) on the strength of singles wins from Sophia Smith (6-0, 6-1) and Anna Manganello (6-2, 6-3). Duxbury's doubles duos of Audrey Hubbs and Catherine Driscoll (2-6, 6-2, 6-3), and Tiffany Strachan and Lena Harati (6-1, 7-6 [7-4]) added key wins.
Wayland 4, Marblehead 1 —
The second-seeded Warriors (12-5) earned a second-round victory over No. 18 Marblehead (14-5) with wins from Elena Ton (6-0, 6-2), Olivia Todd (6-1, 6-0), Yumi Niimi (6-2, 6-1), and doubles pair Emi Niimi and Rhea Sethi (7-6 [7-5], 6-0).
Westborough 5, Oliver Ames 0 —
The sixth-seeded Rangers (13-5) earned a second-round sweep over 11th-seeded Oliver Ames (14-4) in a match highlighted by senior Gina Hajiseyedjavady's close win over fellow senior Hannah Farber (1-6, 6-2, 7-6 [12-10] at first singles.
Westborough added singles wins with Diya Bhattacharya (6-0, 6-0), Rachel Dubrovsky (6-2, 6-2), and doubles wins from Sahasra Kommineni and Evelyn Wood-Dunfey (6-0, 6-1), and Ella Glasgow and Katie Xia (6-2, 6-1).
Division 4 State
Hamilton-Wenham 4, Millis 1 —
The fourth-seeded Generals (15-2) won their second-round matchup over No. 13 Millis (11-9) with dominant singles wins from Naomi Provost (6-1, 6-0), Emily McIntosh (6-0, 6-0), and Charlotte Ireland (6-1, 6-0). Doubles pair Olivia Romans and Evelyn Esdaile added a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory.
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Ipswich 3, Sutton 2 —
The No. 7 Tigers (14-4) notched a second-round victory over No. 10 Sutton (14-7) on the strength of their doubles pairs. Ipswich earned doubles wins from sisters Lila and Mae Borgman (6-3, 6-0), and Alex Marino and Frannie Hertz (6-0, 6-3). Sophie Johannknecht notched the lone singles win (6-1, 6-1).
Henry Dinh-Price contributed to this report.
AJ Traub can be reached at