by Stuart M. Rault

The L-S boys volleyball team was nothing but excellent throughout the season. The one thing that they failed to do was bring home a state championship banner.
They opened the tournament against Xaverian and won in three easy games.
Next up was rival Natick, who L-S lost to last year in the tournament. Unlike last year, the Warriors quickly took commanding leads in all games and won with ease 3-0. This brought the Warriors to the Central Regional Finals, a level they had never surpassed.
Their opponent was an undefeated Milford squad, and again L-S won easily, and in doing so, made history. The Warriors had never previously gotten this far in the state tournament. Captains Danny Letizi, Drew Corwin, and Lucas Rathjens gave a solid showing and brought home the Central title in three games. L-S seemed unstoppable.
Chicopee Comprehensive was a strong team but lacked experience, which L-S was able to exploit. The Warriors outsmarted the young squad--made up primarily of sophomores--and again won in three straight games.
This brought L-S to the state final game against St. Johns Prep. Throughout the match, it was apparent that L-S was the stronger of the two teams, but just failed to deliver when it mattered most. The Warriors had the Eagles against the wall throughout the course of the match but were incapable of  shutting down their opponent. L-S seemed out of sorts at the start of the match, but quickly got into a groove and won the first game 25-21.
The second game was even closer but the Eagles edged by L-S, 27-25. It was the first game that they had lost in the entire postseason.
However, L-S stormed back and won 26-24 in the third game. This was crucial as it brought them just 25 points away from the state championship, and put the Eagles in a tough situation.
The fourth game was the turning point in the match, as the momentum shifted to Prep, which proved to be L-S’ undoing. L-S went on a run and came to a commanding 19 to 13 lead. It seemed as if the Warriors were going to bring home its first state banner, but the Eagles had other ideas. Prep made a comeback and forced L-S out of their rhythm; even so the Warriors took all the strength they had left and pushed to a championship point. Unfortunately, L-S could not seal the deal and Prep squeaked by to even up the match at two games a piece.
The fifth game was all Prep; L-S made costly errors and lacked communication on the court which destroyed their whole flow of play. They lost the game 15-10, despite their tremendous efforts.
Although L-S did not bring home the state banner, they did make school history by reaching the final and they finished with the best record in the state. In addition, many of the players received awards for their superb play. Corwin was awarded DCL Player of the Year and to the Globe and Herald All-Scholastics. Rathjens and Letizi were also members of the prestigious All-Scholastic team, as well as the DCL All Star team. Joining them on the All Star team were seniors Ian Engler, Zach Reed and Nick Holden while David Roussel was named to the second DCL All Star team.