Scarlet Hawks shine with revamped roster

By Chris Villani

Sports Writer

Milford High School’s boys’ volleyball coach Andrew Mainini did not know what to expect from his team this spring. The Scarlet Hawks have no seniors on the roster and only returned two players from a team that went to the state semifinals a season ago.

MHS also became an independent in boys’ volleyball, allowing Mainini to stack the schedule with some of the top teams from all parts of Massachusetts. Despite all that, the Scarlet Hawks have risen to be a top-five team in Division II and a legitimate state title contender.

“I think they have exceeded my expectations,” Mainini said. “There were a lot of question marks.”

Junior outside hitter Alex Guerra has been the top offensive weapon for Milford this season, while junior Arthur Gomes is perhaps the team’s top passer.

“They are both captains and they play the majority of the balls on most plays, either passing or attacking,” Mainini said.

Setter Owen Callahan, another junior, has shown tremendous improvement after playing for the MHS JV team in 2022.

“He has made a ton of progress over the course of the season,” Mainini said. “That has made a big difference for us.”

Another thing that separates Milford from some of the competition is the fact that Mainini has two sizable middle hitters in 6-foot-4 Joey Newman and 6-foot-2 Ryan Newman.

“You don’t always see big tall athletic middles who are real offensive threats and both of them are athletic and offensive threats,” the coach said. “They are working on being more consistent and we hope the experience sets them up well for next year.”

Milford was knocked out by North Quincy last year in the final four, but scored a win over that team this year even though their opponents returned nearly everyone from last year’s team. MHS has also hung in with Agawam and Westfield, two of the best teams in the state. 

“We have played really well against some really good teams” Mainini said. “There have been a lot of bright moments.”

Mainini admits the team’s relative lack of experience could be a liability in the postseason. But Milford has won more than a dozen matches against a difficult schedule, so he knows the talent to make a deep run in the tournament is there.

“We think we can play with anyone in Division II,” he said.