Chelmsford's Littie Tauch celebrates with Matthew Lamb (left) after the Lions beat St. John's in the state boys volleyball match on Thursday. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
A loss in the final game of the regular season didn't dampen the confidence of the Chelmsford High School boys volleyball team.
The Lions came out strong, beating St. John's of Leominster 3-0 in the round of 32 of Division 1 on Thursday.
No. 12 Chelmsford (15-6) advanced, winning 25-13, 25-22, 25-18, and is scheduled to play MVC rival Methuen in the Sweet 16.
Liam Quinn had 12 kills and Royce Rojas also had a strong game at the net with nine kills. Setter Jack McPhee was outstanding with 25 assists and four aces.
Billerica 3, South 0: The Indians have won three straight games since their impressive win in the Division 2 qualifying tournament.
Junior setter Gavin Correia has recovered from injury and has been a big step forward for the Indians. 29th-ranked Billerica (6-15) will face North Middlesex on Saturday (4 p.m.) in Townsend.
Weymouth 3, Central 0: The Raiders were eliminated from the Division I tournament by a score of 25-18, 25-17, 25-20.
Central Catholic (10-11) got 14 kills and two blocks from Deril Atem, Michael Nguyen had 18 assists and Aidan Herries had 12 digs and 10 service points.
East Longmeadow 3, Dracut 2: The Middies put up a good fight despite being narrowly defeated in the Division Two qualifiers.
The marathon match ended with scores of 20-25, 25-20, 29-27, 17-25, 15-10. The No. 31 Middies (5-14) were led by Odom Mok with 20 kills, 15 digs and a service point. Micah Olowo contributed with 10 blocks.
Jacob Luke was outstanding with 37 digs and 11 service points.
Other scores: In the Division 2 preliminaries, No. 42 Innovation (11-10) lost 3-0 to No. 23 Bellingham.
In the Division I preliminaries, No. 37 Lowell Catholic (13-6) lost 3-0 to No. 28 Greater New Bedford.
Men's Lacrosse
Littleton 15, Hoosac Valley 9: Liam Parkinson, Ryan Johnson and Ryan Pittorino each scored four goals as the Tigers claimed a home victory in the Division 4 preliminary round.
No. 33 Littleton (9-10) also got goals from Jake Taglieri, Liam Smith and Jack Proulx. Taglieri had a great game, dishing out four assists. Andrew Archer had three assists. Parkinson and Johnson each assisted on two goals. Sam LaPenta made 14 saves in his varsity debut. Littleton advances to face Nantucket.
Dracut 15, Wayland 2: The host Middies put in a dominant performance to handily defeat Dual County League side Wayland in the Division 3 round of 32.
No. 11 Dracut (12-7) will face the winner of the Martha's Vineyard-Burlington game in the next round.
OR-Newmarket 12, Albany 2: The Broncos fell to a solid Oyster River-Newmarket team in a qualifying game for NHIAA Division 2. 10th-ranked Alburn finished with a 10-8 record.
Women's Lacrosse
Guilford 16, Pelham 4: The Pythons were unable to hold off No. 3 Guilford in an away game in the NHIAA Division 3 quarterfinals.
No. 6 Pelham (11-5) beat Kearsarge, also 16-4, in the first round. In the loss to Guilford, the Pythons led 10-1 at halftime. Ella DeSimone scored the 90th and 91st goals of her career to lead Pelham's attack.
Sophia Joncas and Kate Burke each scored one goal, and Addie Breo made 18 saves.
Abington 9, Littleton 8: The Tigers nearly beat No. 30 Abington in the Division 4 qualifying round but lost narrowly on the road to No. 35 Littleton, who finished 10-7.
Men's Tennis
Chelmsford 3, Catholic Memorial 2: The Lions went on the road and returned with a narrow victory in a Division I qualifying game at Curry University in Milton.
No. 33 Chelmsford (8-5) faces a tall task hosting top-seeded and unbeaten St. John's Prep (17-0) at noon Sunday.
baseball
Lebanon 3, Pelham 1: The Pythons made the long journey out west and returned with a loss in the NHIAA Division II qualifying round.
Ninth-seeded Pelham (9-8) couldn't stop its attacking eighth-seeded opponent.
