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The Winchester High School boys volleyball team only lost six regular season matches, while winning 14, and as a result it ended up as the 15th seed in the final Division 1 power rankings, before the state tournament got underway against Methuen (15-6), the 18th seed, in the Round of 32.
The team was able to edge the visiting Rangers, 3-2 to advance to the Sweet 16 against Natick (19-3, second seed). The Bay State Conference Red Hawks, however, shutout the Red & Black, 3-0 to eliminate them from the playoffs.
Natick then went on to do the same against Barnstable (18-6, 26th seed) in the Elite 8 to make it to the state semifinals, where it hooked up with Needham (21-5, third seed), a familiar Bay State Conference foe. But they ended up losing to the Rockets, 3-1 on June 10.
There are 62 teams in Division 1, and 39 of them qualified for the playoffs this year.
Winchester Coach John Fleming had high praise for Natick after the Sweet 16 matchup.
“We lost to a very talented Natick team,” he said. “They were the best team that we saw all year long. They were really strong at every position, and really had no weaknesses.
“We hung tough in the first and third sets, but just didn’t have enough consistency in our game to really push them,” added Fleming. “Although, I’m proud of the fight that our guys put up against them. They played hard all the way through, and have nothing to be ashamed of.”
The Red & Black are graduating four seniors this year, and they include David You, Bryan Jiang, Julien He and Tuto Sampaio.
“We will miss them all,” said Fleming. “They were a fun group to be around, and each provided something unique to our team and program. David had boundless energy, and was a very versatile player this year as a setter and right-side hitter. Bryan was one of the top middles in the (Middlesex) league, and really should have been an all-star. His blocks against Methuen in the tournament opener set a school record.
“Julien really pushed his teammates to improve during the offseason, and led by example as our most improved player. He had a monster senior season that resulted in turning himself into an all-star,” he continued. “Tuto had one of the best seasons in program history, and was also an all-star, not to mention an all-league player for being among the Top 6 players in it. He was also selected to play in the North Region All-Star game. His 337 kills this year were only second to Jamie Watt's total from last season.”
Winchester only had two returning starters coming into this season with not much overall team experience. But next spring, it will return a number of players with plenty of experience, according to Fleming.
“Ethan Lubomirski, our libero, is one of our returning players, who was named a league all-star, as well,” said Fleming. “Sophomore Haoran Jiang and junior Landon Turk both were able to play significant amount of time as setters this year, so we head into next year with much more experience at those positions. Junior Elliott Swain started at the second middle hitter position, and made a tremendous amount of headway this season. His classmate Bryan Lin started at right side hitter, but will be looking to fill one of the voids left behind by Tuto and Julien next spring.
“We will also return a healthy Dawson English, a junior this year, who missed the entire season with an injury, and Leo Wang, who missed the second half of this season with an injury,” added the veteran Winchester coach. “Juniors Justin Reno and Alex Wang both gained experienced over the past three months, and will be competing for one of the hitting positions in 2026.”
