The Lowell High School boys volleyball team discusses during a 3-1 win over North Andover on Thursday. (Christopher Hurley/Lowell Sun)
LOWELL – It was the type of situation Cody Fitzpatrick thrives in.
The Lowell High School senior scored 20 points to help rally his team after dropping the first set, and the ninth-ranked Lowell boys volleyball team beat No. 24 North Andover by a 3-1 margin in a Division I round of 32 match Thursday at Lowell High School.
The Red Raiders (18-3) will face either No. 8 Brookline or No. 25 Woburn.
“It feels good,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think we could have ended the game early, but they kept fighting back. It was a good team win and we can keep winning the next game.”
It wasn't easy. Lowell had to rally from a 1-0 deficit after losing the first set 25-21, but won the next three sets 25-18, 25-23, 25-23.
“That was a good MVC team,” Lowell coach Paul McCarthy said, “to beat a good MVC team three times is a great testament to my kids. It was a solid battle. They just kept playing and that's where our seniors shined. Luckily we have practice tomorrow.”
Lowell faced early pressure from the Scarlet Knights, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before the Red Raiders scored their first point, then they fought back to catch up and the match was tied four times.
Fitzpatrick, the team's ace, was in limited form at the start, getting his first kill while losing 11-10. Undaunted, he contributed to a late fightback that saw his team briefly take a 13-12 lead. North Andover retook control and closed out the set 25-21.
Down 1-0, Lowell was looking to bounce back when senior Walter Palacios (8 blocks) gave his team momentum with his slick presence in front of the net, scoring two points to extend the lead to 11-4, part of a six-point lead that helped turn the tide.
Fitzpatrick also got back into rhythm, scoring a couple of kills to hold a 23-16 lead before eventually taking the set at 25-18 to tie the score at 1-1. The Red Raiders stepped on the gas in the third set, going on a 7-2 run, fueled by senior Caesar Joseph (18 kills) and Fitzpatrick's cannon-like attack to help fuel the Red Raiders' 11-4 advantage.
“Everybody knows who Cody is,” McCarthy said, “so I was trying to get everybody moving before that, and then I finally got him to move, and he took over from there, and it was awesome.”
North Andover slowly made a comeback and prevented Lowell from scoring on their own. After that, it was a close game with both teams trading points to keep the game interesting.
Lowell senior Eric Nguyen never lost focus and turned the tide with a team-high 58 digs. Senior Tyrell Routt kept the offensive flow going with 52 assists, including a solid spike from a clever setup by Dennis Seng, and the Red Raiders held a step ahead with a 2-1 lead. Senior Aiden Luom also kept his cool in tight situations.
“The turning point, in my opinion, was definitely the energy,” Joseph said. “We lost the first set and our energy went down, but then we went into the second set and you could see the energy just explode. We all worked well together and we ended up winning.”
North Andover hung in there. Senior Gyan Mistry had 11 kills and three blocks, and senior Ben Mech added 11 kills. Junior setter Carson Wong dished out 26 assists and sophomore libero Prady Mistry had 19 digs for the Scarlet Knights, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide.
“We just had prom the other day and a couple of days after prom is really tiring,” McCarthy said. “Hopefully we can bounce back well. We'll play Brookline or Woburn, both good teams, but it'll be a great game all the way to the end. We're playing with house money. We're just going to ride the wave and see where it takes us.”
