DANVERS — Lawrence libero Lance Thigpen had the extremely difficult task of trying to dig the powerful shots hammered at him by St. John’s Andrew Lutz of North Reading.
“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen,” Thigpen said. “He’s probably got the hardest shot ever.”
Lawrence won the first game yesterday, then Lutz took over, leading No. 1 St. John’s Prep to a 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 victory over the No. 5 Lancers in a Division 1 North semifinal match.
Lutz, a 6-foot-7 senior who will play volleyball at Ohio State next year, smashed 30 kills and added three blocks. And he did all that with a strained back and tendonitis in his elbow, he said.
“I’m injured right now but I really don’t care,” Lutz said. “I’m willing to play. I’ll take 10 Advil if I have to. I’m taking six right now.”
Lutz stepped up big after St. John’s fell behind 10-6 in the second game.
“We tried serve to where he would be taken away from the set but they're a steady team,” Lawrence coach Tony Hajjar said. “There’s not much you can say. They’ve got a good couple other players, too. But it was a good battle. It really was.”
Lutz didn’t even start playing volleyball until his sophomore year. He played baseball as a freshman.
“I was always a basketball player,” he said. “I was never a volleyball player. The (volleyball) coach, after a baseball practice, he saw me and he said that if I came out for the volleyball team he'd add six inches to my vertical (leap). I wanted to play college basketball so six more inches is going to do a lot for you in basketball. So I dropped baseball.”
Meanwhile, one bright spot for the Lancers was the play of sophomore Jesus Reyes, who had 10 kills.
Reyes is in his first year playing on the varsity. He never started a match until May 17 against Chelmsford.
“He wasn’t really big for us and then one day at practice he just went off (smashing shots),” Thigpen said. “We put him in the game and he does this every day. He just came in and started putting balls away and now he’s one of our all-stars.”
Every time Reyes scored a point the rowdy Lawrence bench players chanted his name and also got down on their knees and folded their hands like they were praying.
“His name is Jesus so every time he puts the ball away everyone gets down on the floor and it’s like they’re praying to God,” Thigpen said. “When he puts the ball down, it’s something amazing.”
Lutz was impressed with Reyes.
"He’s a big kids, he’s a strong kid and he’s definitely a weapon,” Lutz said. “He can be very good by his senior year. I enjoy the way he plays. He always swings hard and that causes problems. We were closing the block and he was still finding ways to hit the ball through it.”
Lawrence senior Yordano Osoria, whose nickname is Big Baby because he sort of looks like Celtics player Glen Davis, said that Reyes is his cousin and that he thinks Reyes can develop into a true leader for the team in the coming years.
“He loves the sport and puts a lot of time and effort into it,” Osoria said. “He could be just as good as Lutz.”
Prince Hiraldo added 10 kills. Osoria had 10 blocks. Ariel Frias recorded 34 assists. Jose Vargas had 13 blocks.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/27/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
DANVERS — Lawrence libero Lance Thigpen had the extremely difficult task of trying to dig the powerful shots hammered at him by St. John’s Andrew Lutz of North Reading.
“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen,” Thigpen said of the Merrimack Valley Conference MVP. “He’s probably got the hardest shot ever.”
Lawrence won the first game yesterday, then Lutz took over, leading No. 1 St. John’s Prep to a 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 victory over the No. 5 Lancers in a Division 1 North semifinal match.
Lutz, a 6-foot-7 senior who will play volleyball at Ohio State next year, smashed 30 kills and added three blocks. And he did all that with a strained back and tendinitis in his elbow.
“I’m injured right now but I really don’t care,” Lutz said. “I’m willing to play. I’ll take 10 Advil if I have to. I’m taking six right now.”
Lutz stepped up big after St. John’s fell behind 10-6 in the second game.
“We tried to serve where he would be taken away from the set but they're a steady team,” Lawrence coach Tony Hajjar said. “There’s not much you can say. They’ve got a good couple other placers, too. But it was a good battle. It really was.”
Lutz didn’t even start playing volleyball until his sophomore year. He played baseball as a freshman.
“I was always a basketball player,” he said. “I was never a volleyball player. The (volleyball) coach, after a baseball practice, he saw me and he said that if I came out for the volleyball team he'd add six inches to my vertical (leap). I wanted to play college basketball so six more inches is going to do a lot for you in basketball. So I dropped baseball.”
Meanwhile, one bright spot for the Lancers was the play of sophomore Jesus Reyes, who had 10 kills.
Reyes is in his first year playing on the varsity. He never even started a match until May 17 against Chelmsford.
“He wasn’t really big for us and then one day at practice he just went off (smashing shots),” Thigpen said. “We put him in the game and he does this every day. He just came in and started putting balls away and now he’s one of our all-stars.”
Every time Reyes scored a point the rowdy Lawrence bench chanted his name and also got down on their knees and folded their hands like they were praying.
“His name is Jesus so every time he puts the ball away everyone gets down on the floor and it’s like they’re praying to God,” Thigpen said. “When he puts the ball down it’s something amazing.”
Lutz was impressed with Reyes.
"He’s a big kid, he’s a strong kid and he’s definitely a weapon,” Lutz said. “He can be very good by his senior year. I enjoy the way he plays. He always swings hard and that causes problems. We were closing the block and he was still finding ways to hit the ball through it.”
Lawrence senior Yordano Osoria, whose nickname is Big Baby because he resembles 300-pound Celtic forward Glen Davis, said that Reyes is his cousin and that he thinks Reyes can develop into a true leader.
“He loves the sport and puts a lot of time and effort into it,” Osoria said. “He could be just as good as Lutz.”
Prince Hiraldo added 10 kills, Osoria 10 blocks. Ariel Frias 34 assists and Jose Vargas 13 blocks for the Lancers.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/27/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
The Lawrence Lancers have advanced further into the MIAA tournament after defeating Boston Latin Acedemy on Tuesday. Lawrence needed just three games to take care of buisness,winning 25-17, 27-25, 25-22.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/25/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
As the highest seed in the first round of the North sectionals, Lawrence drew a sub-.500 Lowell squad and won in three straight games. Libero Lance Thigpen kept the Lancer offense flowing well with strong back-row ball distribution. Next up for fifth-seed Lawrence will be No. 4 Boston Latin Tuesday on the road at 7 p.m.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/20/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
After losing the first game by a decisive 25-13 score, Lawrence roared back to defeat Chelmsford in five games, ending the regular season with a 15-5 record. Abimael Villa and Jose Vargas combined for 31 kills. The pairings come out the North sectional today.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/17/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Led by senior Bjorn Merinder, Andover's tennis team enjoyed great success in the individual state tennis tournament yesterday. Merinder advanced into today's North quarterfinals with two wins, the second an intense 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Central's Thomas Alaimo, who recently beat him in a regular season match. Also advancing with two wins apiece were the doubles teams on Nitin Mahesh-Christian Waters and Andrew Mack-Andej Smardzec.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/15/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
A potentially dangerous combination — a Lawrence squad gliding against a sub-.500 opponent and Methuen fighting hard for a playoff spot. Splitting the first two games, the Lancers pulled out a rugged 27-25 third game and was able to pull out a tough 3-1 victory. Net play by Prince Hiraldo and Abimael Villa (14 kills each) allowed Lawrence to stay on top.
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Boys Volleyball, 05/07/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Prince Hiraldo notched a team-high 12 kills and 15 service points as Lawrence downed Andover 25-14, 27-25, 15-25, 25-15. Ariel Frias added 32 assists for the Lancers.
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Boys Volleyball, 04/22/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
After dropping its match to St. John's Prep 12 days ago, Lawrence has pitched four straight shutouts with Central Catholic being the most recent victim. Aramis Pimentel came off the bench for the Lancers (7-1) and contributed a strong overall effort. Jimmy Zenevitch (7 kills, 2 blocks and 1 ace) had a solid day for the Raiders (3-4).
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Boys Volleyball, 04/20/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Behind an outstanding overall effort from senior Edward Cedano, Lawrence swept Methuen, 3-0. Jose Vargas and Prince Hiraldo dominated net play for the Lancers (5-1).
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Boys Volleyball, 04/13/10 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
