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HAVERHILL — When the chips were down yesterday afternoon, the Brett Pettis-James Murray combination saved the day for the still unbeaten Haverhill volleyball team. Leading Central Catholic 2-1 in games, the Hillies (8-0) played one of their worst games of the season in the fourth game, losing 25-14 and giving the Raiders (6-2) the apparent momentum heading into the decisive fifth game. Pettis is one of the most feared net players in the Merrimack Valley Conference, but he’s also a powerful server as he showed in Game 5. With the Hillies leading 5-4, the two-time Eagle-Tribune All-Star went to the back line and served seven straight points, including two of his stunning 12 aces. By the time he was done, Haverhill had a commanding 12-4 lead on its way to a clinching 15-5 win. “That’s our objective No. 1 heading into our next match against them, to practice returning those kind of serves,” said Central coach Gannon Paris. “But I don’t know how to replicate them. The thing about his serves is that he’s so strong, but he’s also very accurate. “I haven’t seen anyone better than him serving the ball.” With Pettis in the back row, meanwhile, junior James Murray took over at the net, recording six of his 17 kills in the final game. Pettis led the team in kills with 21. “People talk a lot about Brett (at the net), but we have two very good outside hitters,” said Haverhill coach Bill Kaste. “James had a tough fourth game, but he really stepped it up in the final game.” Explaining his obvious improvement at the net over last year, Murray said: “It’s just from a lot of practice and having Brett helps. It leaves a lot of room for me and Drew (Caruso).” Also contributing heavily were Zach Sindoni, with 47 assists and five kills, and Andrew Alves with 12 digs. Despite the setback, Paris knows that his club isn’t far behind either Haverhill or Lawrence, which handed Central its other loss. The Raiders won the first game yesterday, 25-23, and ran away with the fourth game before fading in the fifth game. “That (Haverhill) is a good team, with everyone having defined roles that they’re good at,” said Paris. “But we’re right there and it’s nice that there are several competitive teams in the league.” Jimmy Zenevitch led the Raiders at the net with 16 kills while Sean Davis had 13 kills and four blocks. Mike Hovnanian contributed 14 service points and five digs.

The Haverhill boys volleyball team took top honors yesterday at the highly regarded Holyoke Hall of Fame Classic.

Playing against some of the best compettition in New England, including the defending Mass. and Rhode Island state champions, the Hillies won their last five matches to grab the title, defeating Newton South in straight games in the championship match.

LAWRENCE — It's not how you start, but how you finish that makes all the difference as the Haverhill volleyball team proved last night.

In an early-season showdown of two of the Merrimack Valley Conference teams expected to vie for the league crown, the Hillies (2-0) battled back from a 2-0 deficit by winning the final three games to hand Lawrence (3-1) its first loss of the season.