RallyNorth.net

Not playing for nine days led to some rust for No. 15 Methuen, but the Rangers shook off a first-game loss to win the next three and upset No. 2 Lowell Catholic 3-1 to advance to the second round of the North Division 1 tournament. Ricardo Castillo and Sam Branchaud led the team with 13 kills apiece, and the Rangers will be at Westford Academy Thursday at 3 p.m. for a quarterfinal matchup. Methuen coach Matt Twomey is hoping his squad can channel the Rangers squad of 2012, who advanced to the North championship game as an 11-seed.

Trailing 8-3 in the fifth game to Lowell, Methuen's volleyball team rallied for a 15-12 victory and the match to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in three years. The Rangers (10-10) were immense at the net as Ricardo Castillo had 20 kills and six blocks and Michael Bodenrader and Yash Patel had 12 and eight blocks respectively. It was the first win over Lowell in five years.

Haverhill won the fifth game, 15-12, to edge Methuen in a back-and-forth volleyball match. Colin Duckworth had 11 kills, 14 digs and a pair of aces for the Hillies (9-4) while Ricardo Castillo had 24 kills and Yash Patel added nine blocks for the Rangers.

Lawrence volleyball swept Methuen behind the play of Janci Soto (11 kills, 3 aces), David Garcia (14 kills) and Kevin Vanderhorst (21 service points).

Ricardo Castillo had nine kills and 14 service points and Yash Patel backed him with 10 kills and five blocks. They powered Methuen to a 3-0 sweep of Malden.