During much of the last three sets, if you closed your eyes for a moment, you could almost forget you were in Lexington.

Against an upper-tier Minutemen group riding a 10-game win streak at the end of April, the Milford boys volleyball team transformed the small gym into a home away from home. The junior varsity squad’s booming cheers from the bleachers ignited the bench, who echoed every holler in a regular season matchup with a state quarterfinal feel. And on the court, super-charged junior outside hitter Gus Da Silva traded hits with Lexington’s Ale Luciani in a five-set thriller Milford lost by just two points.

Lexington ranks at No. 5 in the latest Div. 1 power rankings, with the state tournament almost a week away. It’s drawn praise as the leading candidate to break up the Bay State Conference’s grip on the Final Four.

The Scarlet Hawks, with Da Silva as their only returning starter from a trip to the state semifinals last year, rank No. 22.

“That game really showed us how good we are defensively and how good we can be,” Da Silva said. “The hype-ness, especially from our JV team and freshman team, if it wasn’t for them, I think we would’ve struggled a lot. They really boosted us as a team and our energy just skyrocketed. I think that’s what really pushed us that game. It was a good game. It felt like a home game, I can’t lie.”

Milford has a history of tenacity in numbers, wearing hearts on sleeves and producing a storm of energy that’s hard for opponents to bottle up. Last year’s senior-laden group, led by stars Alex Guerra and Arthur Gomes, showed a strong, team-wide friendship at the heart of it every day with Da Silva – a culture the junior focuses on maintaining this year.

To Scarlet Hawks head coach Andrew Mainini, that’s Da Silva’s superpower, outside of his talents as one of the state’s better outside hitters. And when Milford competes with Lexington, or beats a Cambridge (ranked No. 6) in five sets, or leads sets against Div. 1 and Div. 2 powerhouses Newton North and Agawam, that unity shines bright.

“I think off of the court, he is someone that the entire team likes, and he makes them laugh, and he brings the team together socially,” Mainini said. “The way he interacts with his teammates is really positive, and that has really brought the team – a pretty inexperienced team that was very new to each other – he has really brought the team together. And when we play defense, we often look like a well-oiled machine with a lot of chemistry. And I think that is partially because Gus has kind of united everyone as friends.”

“I want to be like a team that has a lot of chemistry and enjoys playing with each other, no hatred,” Da Silva added. “You know, that’s my focus. … We’re always hanging out. We’re always eating lunch (together). After practices or games, we’re always like together, you know, bonding as a team. So, that’s our primary goal, is just being together. When we’re at our low, we stay together, and when we’re achieving, everyone’s supporting each other.”

There’s a lot to Da Silva’s game that makes him a player to watch. Newton North and Lexington struggled at times to disrupt his hitting, which Mainini says comes from a dynamic swing that produces at the toughest of angles. The team is strong with its serve-receive, of which Da Silva is one of its best at. He’s been a standout passer.

When asked of those contributions when Milford is at its best, Da Silva points to the team. But when the Scarlet Hawks struggle, which has come in waves in an 11-8 record, the junior feels responsible for it.

“I have to take, like, the blame for it,” Da Silva said. “Everyone looks up to me, so I have to be a great role model to everyone. And sometimes I don’t do that. But I’m trying to keep myself at a very high standard for the most part.”

Milford, which has high expectations for what it can do in the state tournament despite its ranking, has shown more positives than negatives.

An upset loss to Taunton to share the new Hockomock League title with it was something Mainini felt Da Silva took pretty harshly. A 3-0 loss to Acton-Boxboro earlier in the week was frustrating, too. But in the first two sets, Milford was seemingly full control.

Against Newton North, which eventually lost top outside hitter Simon Vardeh to injury late in the third set, Milford led or competed well into at least the middle of all four sets in a 3-1 loss. Agawam is Div. 2’s leading title favorite, and Milford led in sets against it as well. The five-set win over Cambridge was a match Da Silva especially thrived in.

“I think when we play our best,” Mainini said. “it’s because (Da Silva) is, you know, bringing the team together and pushing them forward.”

Consistency is the key, and Da Silva has worked hard on his leadership to limit the low moments. Da Silva admits the pressure he feels with jumping from a role player last year to a central leader this year, a pressure that’s been both enjoyable and difficult. But he’s taking it in stride, and is focused on guiding the Scarlet Hawks as they look to improve their close-outs to sets.

“We’re really playing well until that closing moment (in the losses),” he said. “We just need to sense a little bit of blood, and athletes close the game every time. … Really it’s just working harder every day.”

Passion for the sport comes almost naturally for Da Silva, who dropped other sports to focus on volleyball and work as a barber. He plays for Smash volleyball in the offseason, and has made friendships and improved there, too.

“(Volleyball) means a lot (to me),” Da Silva said. “It’s like, my safe space, in a way. It brings me closer to my friends. It’s like, really calming and it’s just peaceful, you know?”

With those friends, he’s looking forward to making some noise in the state tournament. The whole team – bolstered by junior Diego Inacio-Santos, sophomore Sam Abreu and a well-balanced defense – is too.

“We’re ready, and we’re excited to potentially be the underdog who gets a couple upsets in the tournament,” Mainini said. “We know that we are more talented than a (22) seed.”

Originally Published: May 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM EDT

1. With the completion of the Quarter Final Stage, the semi-finals are set for the Final Four in Malta. On Friday 30 May, Novi Beograd will clash with Zodiac CNAB from 19.30, while FTC-Telekom face CN Marseille from 21.00 on the picturesque Mediterranean island..

The two group winners, Ferencvaros and Novi Beograd have experience of playing in the iconic Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex in Gzira, as they were both part of the show last season. For Barceloneta and Marseille, this is going to be their first Champions League tour to Malta – though not the first occasion to play the finals. Well, for Marseille, it can still be considered a debut, as this is the first time they managed to reach the top four.

This is going to be the sixth straight appearance for Ferencvaros, whose players lifted the trophy last year and right away upon their first try in 2019. Barceloneta missed the cut a year ago, now they are back and playing in the finals (F4, F6 or F8) for the ninth time in the last 11 editions (they won in 2014).

Novi Beograd have also been a constant feature since 2022, as after playing back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023, they finished fourth in 2024. Marseille have made the F8 twice before, in 2021 and 2022, but were unable to survive the quarters.

2. Title-holders Ferencvaros came up with another strong performance in the last round of games in the Quarter Final Stage, a 20-10 blast against Oradea, to maintain their perfect home record.

Sabadell were the last team to beat them in Budapest in 2023 in the last round of the Group Stage. Since then, Fradi have won all 12 Champions League matches they’ve played at home. And a lot more indeed – their win-loss count stands at 45-1 this season.

If you add their total from the previous one: 46-1, they are 91-2 combined so far – stats that make it clear why the Hungarians are considered the overwhelming favourites in Malta.

Beating Oradea was a little like a walk in the park, and how the match started underlined why this side is a real superpower. Here is the list of players who netted Fradi’s first four goals: Erik Molnar, Zoltan Pohl, Zsombor Vismeg and Vince Varga. Definitely not the household names for FTC.

Even in a game like this, usually the top scorers kick off the party and once the lead is substantial, those players also add a couple of goals. Those names tend to do the bulk of defending, making space for the master shooters, and so on.

Still, in this match, these players put Fradi on the right track, then entered the stars like Stylianos Argyropoulos, who hit three and is on his way to becoming the top scorer for this season.

3. Zodiac CNAB also did a clean job in Group B – the 17-10 trouncing of Savona was another spectacular win for the Spaniards. They are now on a five-game winning streak after losing the opener to Fradi in the Quarter Final Stage.

Indeed, they are also 11-1 combined in the Champions League (Group Stage and Quarter Final Stage), just like the Hungarians. And so far, they are the only ones who could beat FTC across all competitions, even if only in a shootout.

It was a flawless performance against the Italians – and the result also marked the end of an era…

With Recco skipping the top competition and Brescia falling in the qualifications, Savona remained Italy’s only hope, but they just barely survived the Group Stage and never had a realistic chance to qualify for the Final Four.

So, 2025 will mark the first year since 2013 when the finals will begin with no Italian team on the grand stage. Indeed, since the Champions League format took shape, replacing the home-and-away duels in 1997, Italian sides were missing from the finals only in 2000, 2004 and in 2013, for obvious reasons, when they did not enter the competition.

This year marks the very first time when an Italian club was fighting for the ultimate prize, but couldn’t make the cut.

4. Obviously, Olympiacos’ water polo teams wanted to contribute to their club’s 100th anniversary celebrations with much better results. The women got the bronze in the Final Four at least – but the men’s campaign was derailed completely in the quarters.

Still, they wanted to restore some pride and offer some consolation to their fans, and showed strength and quality against Marseille to land a great 12-8 win on day six of the quarters.

We’ll never know how this game may have unfolded if the Greeks had had a chance to advance – indeed, they managed to lead 12-7 late in the match before conceding a late goal from a penalty (after having lost 7-12 in Marseille).

Had it been a different scenario, the results against each other may have really mattered…

Marseille were still the happier side at the end, even if they dropped to second place in Group A. From their perspective, making the Final Four is already a tremendous feat, perhaps even surpassing their previous top achievement – their 2019 Euro Cup triumph.

And even if they are set to play with title-holders Ferencvaros in the semis, a game against Barceloneta wouldn’t have looked any easier either.

5. For understandable reasons, Jadran Split let the last match go, as the Croats were focusing on their league final (vs Mladost Zagreb) and rested their top players. Well, they were already heading towards the exit after losing their first three games, and their Piraeus heroics were short-lived.

Fielding youngsters paved the way for Novi Beograd to clinch an easy win – and it also put the Serbs back on top of Group A, as Marseille’s four-game winning streak came to end in Piraeus.

Credit goes to NBG, as they are no longer the formidable team that lined up most of the Serbian aces – who were Olympic champions alongside quality foreigners.

A couple of key players left the club (and joined Radnicki), still, Novi are a great blend of top home players, talented youngsters and their Greek duo of Angelos Vlachopoulos and Dimitrios Skoumpakis add even more experience and skills to the mix.

In contrast, Jadran continued to add quality players to their line-up, but the Croatian champions were unable to get any closer to the finals. Last year they had six losses in the Quarter Final Stage with a goal-difference of –30 (62-92).

This year they managed to win a match at least (but in a shootout, so no three-point victories in two years), but they sill finished bottom with –32 (48-80).

However, this will be another season remembered for Jadran not getting the results many would have expected, especially from a side that features half of the powerful Croatia team that reached the finals in all three majors last year (Europeans, Worlds, Olympics).

Watch all the Champions League Men Final Four action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with live results/tables and real-time updates through the European Aquatics App. Download it here: Google Play.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins men’s track and field team will send three student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as released by the association.
 
Connor Oiler, Oluwademilade Adeniran and Emmanuel Leblond will make the trip to Geneva to compete across three events beginning Thursday, May 22 and running through Saturday, May 24.
 
The action is set to begin on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. with Oiler in the 3000-meter Steeplechase, where the junior will look to win his first title in the event. The top 12 finishers in the steeplechase will move on to Friday’s final.
 
Saturday’s festivities are set to being at 11:00 a.m. with Adeniran in the triple jump, where the reigning Centennial Conference champion, and school record holder looks to compete for a podium spot. The championship will conclude Saturday night when Leblond, the Centennial Conference Champion, returns to the track in the 5000, where he holds the Johns Hopkins record and the 10^th-fastest time in the country this season.
 

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BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins women’s track and field team will send 12 student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as released by the association.
 
Lorna Arcese, Sara Bartlett, Carter Brotherton, Cooper Brotherton, Adriana Catalano, Erika Ezumba, Annie Huang, Mirra Klimov, Emma Kothari, Lauren Phillips, Lianne Saussy and Harrinee Senthilkumar will make the trip to Geneva to compete across nine events beginning Thursday, May 22 and running through Saturday, May 24.
 
The action is set to begin on Thursday at 5:50 p.m. with a trio of Blue Jays in the 1500-meter, where Huang, the reigning Centennial Conference Champion will look to win gold, alongside teammate’s Kothari, the conference runner-up, and Senthilkumar. The top 12 in the event will advance to Saturday’s final to compete for a podium spot.
 
The Blue Jays will be busy on the track Thursday and Friday, with Co. Brotherton (3000S), Phillips (400), Klimov (100), Huang (800) and the 4×400 relay squad (Phillips, Huang, Arcese, Saussy) all competing in their respective preliminary races beginning at approximately 7:35 p.m. on Thursday and 3:15 p.m. on Friday. The top eight finishers in the 100, 400, 800 and 4×400 will advance to the finals, while the top 12 from the steeplechase will move on to Friday’s final.
 
Saturday’s festivities are set to begin at 11:00 a.m. with Ezumba in the hammer throw, where the reigning Centennial Conference champion and Field Athlete of the Year looks poised to compete for a podium spot. The final day will conclude when Ca. Brotherton and Catalano make a run at the 5000-meter podium.