Hollis Brookline's John Sommer watches as Londonderry's Cam Normand goes for the block during Monday's match in Londonderry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LONDONDERRY – They were looking for a challenge, and on Monday the Hollis Brookline Cavaliers got one in the form of the Londonderry High School boys volleyball team.

Advantage, Lancers – but not by much. It was a 3-2 dogfight, a battle of two 10-0 teams that saw Londonderry win the final set 15-11 after HB evened the match with a surprising 25-14 fourth set win. It was surprising because the first three sets were back-and-forth affairs, with the defending champion Cavs taking the opener 29-27 but the Lancers winning sets two and three by identical 25-21 scores.

But what changed from that fantastic fourth set for HB?

“I just think energy,” Leonard said. “Lonodnderry, they expended a lot of energy in those first sets to beat us. They checked Windham off their list, and they were trying to check HB off their list and they did it. They’re an incredible team.

“We’ll see them again. I know we will.”

The Lancers feel the same way, as they bounced back from what was for them a horrible fourth set.

“Just had to remind the boys to play our game, stay within our system, do what we do best and trust each other,” Lancers coach Jon Buatti said. “And at the end of the day, I think that’s what got us there.

“I have a feeling we’ll see each other again. It’s a rockfight every time we see them.”

The rocks were going back and forth. But in the final set, after taking a 1-0 lead, the Cavs gave up five straight points and were playing catch-up the rest of the way. They got to within 9-8 on an Ethan Norris kill and later 10-9 and then 11-10 on a Kalen Popham kill. But LHS went on a 4-0 run and that was that. John Sommer led HB with 21 kills while Aidan Norris had 20 and Ethan Norris 41 assists. The Lancers were paced by Tanner Brown with 15 kills and Spencer Brassard with 12, including the clincher.

“We just made a lot of mental mistakes,” Leonard said. “We hadn’t been challenged this year at all. This presented the first of many on the back half of our schedule.”

Yes, the Cavs have yet to play Coe-Brown (9-2) and rival Windham, whose only loss was to the Lancers.

“We’ve got to work on some things,” Leonard said. “We made a lot of mistakes, and that’s ultimately at the end of the day what cost us. Kind of what they did in the fourth set is what we did in the fifth. It was tough. When you beat yourselves against a good team, it’s hard to win.

“We needed to be tested, and we certainly were tested, so it was good. We’ll see them again.”

And they’ll look for a better grade.