Below are the seeds and matchups for Hockomock teams in the MIAA playoffs. Seeds, times, and dates are subject to change and we will update this post with any changes.
Division 1
#21 Taunton (11-9) will travel to #12 Haverhill (14-5) on Thursday, 6/1 at 3:00.
Division 2
#4 Milford (13-6) will host #29 Lowell Catholic (11-1) on Friday, 6/2 at 5:00.
Below are the boys volleyball seeds and matchups for schools from the Hockomock in the MIAA playoffs. Seeds, times, and dates are subject to change and we will update this post with any changes.
Division 2
#4 Milford (19-3) will host the winner of #29 Boston Latin (5-16)/#36 East Longmeadow (10-10) at a date and time to be determined.
#31 King Philip (5-13) will host #34 Burncoat (13-5) on Thursday, June 2 at 4:00.
MILFORD, Mass. – The heavy duty fans at the end of each bench were doing little to combat the heat in the gym, but for second-seed Milford the bigger issue in Monday evening’s Central quarterfinal was the defense being played by 10-seed King Philip.
During the regular season, the Hawks swept both meetings with the Warriors but KP was buoyed by its road win over Nipmuc in the opening round and was set on frustrating Milford, extending plays as often as possible. In the end, Milford’s offense, led by star hitter Felipe Guerra and junior middle Chris Tocci, had enough firepower to pull out a 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 25-13) win.
“I thought our first 10 points or so of the match were really good and I was hyped and then it kind slowed down,” said Milford coach Andrew Mainini. “The instant excitement of a playoff match wore off quick and I think with the heat they were tired and unfocused. That caught up to us, but I think we rebounded after that.”
KP coach Emily Tkowski said of the Warriors’ improvements in playoffs, “The communication has been a lot better. Things just kind of fell into place for us. Our outside hitters really dominated [against Nipmuc]. Today they didn’t have much of a performance, our passes weren’t really there to get them to the outside, but they were a huge help for us.”
Early in the opening set, it looked like the pattern of play from the regular season was going to continue. Milford jumped out to a 9-4 lead with Guerra getting an early kill and ace and two kills from Julio DaSilva. After Guerra smashed a hit from the back row and Tocci hung in the air for a kill in the middle, Milford seemed to have things in control, but KP was not going to go quietly.
Hits on the outside by Josh Saintilus and Thomas Beck got the Warriors back into the first set, pulling as close as 18-15. KP took advantage of a mishit to close the gap again to 22-18, but Milford found a little rhythm with setter Valdir Aragoso feeding Tocci for a kill and then picking the right pass for a blast by Guerra. DaSilva closed the first with an ace.
The KP defense seemed to pick up with the start of the second set. Libero Billy Hessler and setter Aidan Lindmark led the way on the back line, but all of the players stepped up to extend plays and put pressure on the Hawks to make the perfect pass and perfect hit to get points.
“My libero really stepped up these past few games,” Tkowski said of Hessler. “He’s gotten so much better this season where he really tries to get a touch on every ball no matter how hard it’s hit.”
She added, “I wish we weren’t playing defense so much and we didn’t have to be so scrappy. I felt like we were always trying to come back from behind and that’s a hard way to play.”
Jeremy White had back-to-back kills to put KP up 7-6, but Tocci sparked an 8-0 run that had Milford up 15-10 and seemingly on the brink of taking control of the match. KP kept fighting back. Two swings from Beck and one from Nick Basile got the Warriors within one. An ace by by Beck tied things up at 16-16.
After Milford libero Jose Nugra chased down a ball to set up a Guerra kill, the Hawks took an 18-17 lead, but KP rattled off three straight points to regain the advantage. A Guerra ace had Milford up 21-20. Yet again, KP rallied with five straight points, all on Milford errors, to even the match at one set apiece.
“Their defense in that second and third set was crazy,” Mainini said. “They got a hand on everything we were hitting. It wasn’t always a perfect pass but they were to back each other up.”
KP had momentum heading into the third set and Milford looked increasingly frustrated. Saintilus had a kill and an ace, as the Warriors took an early lead, but Guerra crushed a kill right into the body of Hessler that got the bench fired up.
While the hitting drew the biggest cheers, it was a strong service game that turned the match around for the Hawks. Junior Oscar Orellana took over with Milford up 11-8 and he served seven straight points, including three aces, to push it to a double-digit lead. Saintilus scored from the back line and Carson Mitteness had a block to try and stem the tide, but Orellana’s run had flipped the momentum of the match and KP never really recovered.
Guerra picked the line with a kill and then snuck a serve in the back corner to close out the third set and put Milford on the brink of a spot in the semis. After his performance in the third, Orellana got the ball to start the fourth and got Milford out to a 5-0 lead.
“His serve wasn’t overpowering but he was just hitting open spots and spots where there was some confusion,” Mainini said. “He totally got us a big lead in that third set, which was crucial.” About starting with Orellana at the service line in the fourth set, Mainini added, “It’s actually not what we usually do but after that third set we couldn’t switch it up from there.”
The Hawks wouldn’t pass up the chance to put the Warriors away. Milford never let KP get any run together in the fourth, Tocci going back-to-back on kills to make it 17-6 and then going back and forth with Guerra to push Milford to a 23-10 lead.
“Consistency is the name of game,” Mainini explained. “If your passing isn’t there, then nothing else is consistent. Ours was a little spotty. Chris played a pivotal role for us because if the passing was off he followed the setter and kept the ball in play strategically. Having them (Chris and Felipe) in tandem was really big for us today. “
Tkowski said, “I was really hoping when we won that second one we could carry through with the momentum but Milford’s really a great team and they really turned it on.”
Milford (16-3) will host six-seed Wachusett on Wednesday evening in the Central semifinal. It is Milford’s third straight semifinal appearance. The Hawks are trying to get to the final for the first time since winning back-to-back sectional titles in 2012 and 2013.
Below are the seeds and matchups for Hockomock teams in the MIAA playoffs. Records listed are for MIAA tournament purposes and do not include exclusion games. Times and dates are subject to change and we will update this post with any changes.
South
#2 Taunton (16-1) will host the winner of #15 Xaverian (4-8)/#18 Madison Park (3-10), time and date TBD.
Central
#2 Milford (15-3) will host the winner of #7 Nipmuc (10-5)/#10 King Philip (7-7) on Monday, 6/21 at 5:00.
#10 King Philip (7-7) travels to #7 Nipmuc (10-5) on Friday, 6/18 at 12:00.
MILFORD, Mass. – No offense to the teams that played earlier in the afternoon, but the nightcap felt like the final. From the atmosphere in the gym to the intensity of play on the floor to the ebb and flow of emotions on both sides of the net, Milford and Natick showed why they are both considered among the top teams in the state.
After falling behind in Friday night’s Central semifinal on its home court, Milford (20-4) rallied with its strongest game of the day to force a decisive fifth set. The hosts led 11-10 in the fifth only to have Natick score the final five points of the match to secure the 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11) victory.
“My biggest fear tonight was coming in and getting overwhelmed by the moment,” said Milford coach Andrew Mainini, “but there was never a moment in the match where I thought they gave up. Some of the points and some of the rallies, the pursuits of the ball in the fifth set were great. They may have come away with the win but I thought we left all of our heart on the floor.”
Despite a raucous crowd cheering them on, the Scarlet Hawks got off to a tough start to the match. A series of unforced errors handed Natick the edge in the first set, running off five straight points to turn a 13-13 tie into an 18-13 lead that it wouldn’t surrender. Connor Reardon was the main weapon for the Red Hawks, while Milford’s serve-receive struggled to put the ball in good positions to attack.
The second set was back-and-forth, as Milford started to find its groove and find outside hitter Joao Boaventura. The senior had six kills in the set and he was a constant menace that the Natick block had to keep an eye on.
“Our offense has come so far in the last couple weeks that there have been a lot of matches where the ball was spread out a lot,” said Mainini. “[Joao] definitely came out to play tonight, definitely controlled the match and scored some really big points for us.”
Fellow hitter Tiago Filadelfo was also used frequently by setter Josh Orellana, recording four kills of his own, including a blast down the line to seal the set.
While it wasn’t the cleanest set for the hosts, who never led by more than three points throughout, Milford started to show some of its balance on offense. In addition to Boaventura and Filadelfo, Zachary Browne and Clayton Picket also got in on the action to keep the Natick defense honest in the middle of the net.
Natick tried to take the momentum back in the third set and jumped out to a 13-8 lead after three straight errors by Milford. The hosts started to battle back, with the help of a scoring error that kept Natick at 15 points. Despite the protests of the Natick bench, the officials kept the score the same and Milford took advantage to tie it after a pair of violations and a Browne block.
A kill by Filadelfo made it 17-16 but then Natick ensured that the controversy over the missing point would be short-lived by scoring nine of the next 13 points, riding the play of junior Brendan Carroll, to take control of the match.
“Their right side is not a very big guy but man does he play super well,” Mainini said. “We had a really tough time blocking the right side hitter. If we moved inside of the court, he hit outside of the block, if we moved out then he hit inside. To me, he won that match for them.”
With the season on the line, Milford put together its best set of the match. It was as though a switch had been flipped and the defense was better, the passing crisper, and the hits started to find open spots.
Browne snagged a point to bring the Hawks within one and then a block by Gabe Brandao tied the set at 6-6. Filadelfo had back-to-back hits to put Milford in front. Brandao had a block and kill that extended the lead to 11-6. Milford pulled ahead 17-12 on a kill by Boaventura, but Natick chipped away with three straight points. Needing a boost, Orellana set Picket in the middle and he buried his shot for a much-needed point.
As the crowd got louder and louder, Milford was able to hold off Natick in the fourth. Filadelfo with another couple of big hits down the stretch keeping Natick at bay and helping send the match to the fifth set.
“It would’ve been great had it been the final,” Mainini admitted, “but there was something special about it being at home and having the entire Milford community come out. The fan support was awesome. Since I’ve been here, we’ve never had an atmosphere that vibrant and intense.”
It was no surprise that the final set was close throughout. Boaventura had back-to-back kills to put Milford ahead 9-7, the second point coming after a long rally in which libero Tiago Carvalho laid out to make a spectacular dig on what seemed like a sure point for the visitors.
Boaventura added another hit to push the lead to 10-8 but then a net violation got one back for Natick and the visitors tied it on a kill by Will Landry. Browne put Milford back in front 11-10 and the crowd anticipated the completion of the comeback, but it would be the last point for Milford on the night. Natick got the final five points, four of them on errors, to grab the road win.
Mainini said, “The guys were diving everywhere to keep balls in play that I didn’t think could be. I feel like they left it all out there tonight. If a couple balls trickle over the net or are two inches in a different direction, the outcome of the game could’ve been completely different.”
