Hanging on the wall in the New Bedford gymnasium is a cloth monument of what once ruled boys volleyball in Massachusetts for a decade.

One banner is for the 1989 Div. 2 state championship the Whalers won when the sport was still young in the state. Another shows the pure dominance that followed, with seven state championships and two three-peats between 1991 and 1999.

The color and print of neither banner is flashy, maybe an indication of just how long ago the era they represent ended. Perhaps even louder, though, is the blank space next to “1999” where one more year would fit – one New Bedford hasn’t been able to win in the 24 years since its last state title.

But now in the 25th year of the hiatus, the Whalers (12-0) are the last unbeaten team left in Div. 1 and are as motivated as ever to add their mark to the program’s lore.

“I know Needham’s been that team, and the Newton Norths, Naticks, and all those teams have had their runs and dominated,” said head coach Ben Kaeterle. “But we always tell the kids there’s one spot on the banner that we want them to fill.”

“I mean, we have almost the entirety of the 90s (up there), state championship after state championship,” added senior captain Carter Barbosa, who’s attending Harvard next year. “We’re really trying to fill that banner and we believe that this is the closest we’ve ever been to be able to do that.”

Barbosa, a third-year starting setter, orchestrates a well-balanced attack that’s gradually improved. Junior Davon Centeio has played well at libero. Moving junior Nick Rosa to right-side bolstered the team’s blocking, and overpowering outside hitter Juan Grau Montano – a 6-foot-3 sophomore transfer from Colombia – has been a game-changer.

The result, alongside many other contributions, is the program’s longest unbeaten start since 2007. Strength of schedule rating limits New Bedford to No. 10 spot in the latest MIAA Div. 1 power rankings, but two wins over North Quincy and another over rival Greater New Bedford are notable.

“Our preseason goal was to go undefeated (and) at first I thought, ‘Wow, we’re being a little ambitious,’” Barbosa said. “Now that we’re (12-0), it’s obviously not as far-fetched as I had thought. … Every single individual, the way we click, our chemistry – it’s just, we’re on fire. And I don’t think that’s going to stop anytime soon.”

There are still hurdles to overcome in terms of a state championship, without much to show how the Whalers stack up to the state’s other powers. But New Bedford is used to leaping over hurdles.

When Kaeterle took over in 2017, it had already been six years since New Bedford last advanced past the first round in playoffs. Players set the goal of winning a state title, but rarely won in a tumultuous season. The Whalers didn’t make the playoffs in 2018 or 2019, either, and the first year after the pandemic didn’t bring many players to tryouts.

That group finished 5-13 with a first-round exit in the state tournament to Needham.

“The first couple years, guys were quitting,” said Kaeterle, a 2006 New Bedford graduate. “Guys were upset with me. There was no culture, what I walked into, that it had been in the past. … It was kind of building the foundation and going from there.”

Playing Needham in 2021 was a turning point, seeing what high-powered volleyball looked like outside of the South Shore. And ever since, it’s been a night-and-day difference.

The 2022 team won 12 games for the first time since 2016; 2023 was a 13-win season. Now, with 12 wins after an offseason in which several players were involved with club, the Whalers feel confident in a deeper run.

“This group has bought in since their freshman year,” Kaeterle said. “I think that’s where the change is now after eight years. Have a couple kids buying in and seeing what the offseason does to you, the beach does to you. Putting the time in the weight room and constantly playing. That’s why the top five is what the top five and the top 10 is. It doesn’t really happen overnight.”

At the core of this year’s success as well is the adoption of the African “ubuntu” philosophy, which roughly means, “I am what I am because of who we all are.” A team-first mindset is a priority.

What it’s led to is a positive atmosphere in the gym – one that has volleyball buzzing again in New Bedford.

“I just feel so grateful to be a part of something, to be bringing back the volleyball spirit in New Bedford that was so big at one time and then kind of took a break, wasn’t that big,” Barbosa said. “I’m just really happy to see how far we’ve come. … To see everyone grow around me too, and to become the team we’ve become. Individually and all together, it’s really impressive actually.”

Strong start at BC High

Two years removed from finishing 7-10 with a first-round exit in the Div. 1 state tournament, BC High has built up its strength as a serious playoff threat this season.

The Eagles are 10-2 despite a beefed-up schedule, with signature wins over Milford, Wayland, Cambridge, St. John’s (S) and St. John’s Prep.

“The competition we’ve faced this year is one of the toughest in recent years for our program so it definitely builds confidence,” said head coach James Chen. “One thing that has stood out has been each player’s commitment since the start of the season to being the best that they can be.”

Westfield, Western Mass. rank atop Div. 2

Six of the top seven teams in the latest MIAA Div. 2 power rankings come from the West, led by reigning finalist Westfield (13-0) at No. 1 and defending champion Agawam (13-2) at No. 2. Wayland (8-4) ranks No. 3, but West Springfield (10-4), Longmeadow (10-3), Granby (14-1) and Ludlow (7-7) hold the next four spots.

The realignments of Milford, North Quincy and Greater New Bedford into Div. 1 seem to play a major role, though only Milford’s rating would crack the top five in Div. 2.

“It is a strong reflection of the West,” said Westfield head coach Tyler Wingate. “I think that you’re seeing a rise of level in the West and there are more and more quality teams that can be factors in June.”

A person accused of stabbing a woman with a disability in Boston on Friday was arrested, according to police.

Police responded to a report of a stabbing on Brandywine Drive in East Boston around 3 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they found a 56-year-old woman who had been stabbed, Sgt. Detective John Boyle, a Boston Police Department spokesperson, told MassLive.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for her stab wounds, which were originally life-threatening. Her injuries were later downgraded to non-life-threatening, Boyle said.

A person was later placed under arrest in connection with the stabbing. The individual is expected to be charged with assault and battery on a disabled person and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to Boyle.

“It’s still an active investigation right now,” Boyle said.

No further information was immediately released to the public by police.

In one moment, this game was ruined. Let’s see if we can pinpoint it down to the individual frame:

As you can probably guess, this throw by Reese McGuire from the Leaning Tower of Pisa pose did not end well for the Red Sox. It was rushed, it was to the wrong base (you can see Devers pointing to first base in the picture), it resulted in an error, it resulted in a run, it nearly got Ceddanne Rafaela killed, and it ended Tanner Houck’s night. It was the sixth of seven consecutive plays in which the Red Sox win probably went down, and by the time the dust settled, the Twins had a win expectancy of 95.4 percent. Awful!

In better news, Tanner Houck nearly pulled off another great start; and this time, he did it without his best stuff. The final line reads four earned run allowed in 6.0 innings, but the big picture take away is that he took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning having only surrendered one run despite inconsistent weaponry. Sometimes he was getting too much break on his off-speed pitches, and others, not enough. He was forced to battle.

The feel came and went, like a high powered racecar that wasn’t quite dialed in and needed an adjustment. He struck out five, walked two, and while that doesn’t sound too notable, it gains context when you add in that coming into this game Houck had struck out 41 and only walked five all year.

He didn’t really have it tonight, and yet he made a game of it while getting no help from his offense. The next step he needs to take to fulfill his quest to become and ace and not just a good starter is to find a way to wrap up an outing like this. Get through one more inning and walk off the mound under your own terms. Obviously the McGuire play boned him and took the ball out of his hands, but he also gave up two line drive singles before that happened.

Tonight, it probably didn’t matter as this feels like a game the Red Sox would have lost either way, but one of these outings Houck is going to have another chance to battle through seven strong innings with his stuff out of whack, and it’s going to result in 3-2 win, or something along those lines. That’s when he’ll transform into a really special pitcher! The best guys win even when they don’t have their “A” Game.

Another piece of good news is that Naoyuki Uwasawa was able to come into the game for Houck and pitch to the finish line. He couldn’t put the fire out in the seventh inning, and initially made things even worse with a pitch clock violation, but he did manage to pitch to the end and save the rest of the pen from any work. This is crucial for tomorrow given the Red Sox will be going with a bullpen game and will need as many fresh arms as possible.

Elsewhere on the diamond, the offense put forth a highly irritable showing. Two batters into the game, they had men on second and third with nobody out and a chance to take an early lead. Instead, they didn’t score a run until the eighth inning.

As bad as they were though, the play of the game (and not in a good way) was the McGuire miscue. Here it is in motion:

Three Studs

Rafael Devers:

The Red Sox only had four hits in this entire game. Devers had two of them, including a first inning double that should have set the table for an early lead. Alas, most everybody else sucked tonight.

Tanner and the Timer:

Tonight’s game was two hours and 21 minutes, but this is part of a larger pattern of fast games when Tanner Houck pitches. In seven starts this season, Tanner Houck’s games are averaging just two hours and 16 minutes. He’s taking the mound ready to work fast and jam it down the opponent’s throat. He’s controlling the tempo, and these not much teams can do to stop him with a timer in place. This is alpha behavior and I love it!

Ballpark sounds:

During the first couple innings of this game on the NESN 360 feed, there was no play by play as they were having audio issues. (Amazing how that happens when you skimp on the budget.) In any case, it gave us a couple of innings to just take in the ballpark sounds, which was actually quite lovely.

Three Duds

Reese McGuire:

In addition to the disastrous defensive play, he also went hitless at the plate.

Tyler O’Neill

He was at the center of not cashing in during that first inning opportunity. He also got another opportunity with a man on second in the eighth and struck out there too. Overall, he went 0-4 with three strikeouts.

Wilyer Abreu

He also went 0-4 with three strikeouts. And he, like O’Neill, also played a huge role in not cashing in at least one run from that golden opportunity in the first.

Red Sox Viewing PSA: The heathens who run Major League Baseball have once again decided this year that every Friday night, four lucky fanbases will have their team’s games hijacked off their regional sports networks and behind the paywall of another streaming platform. For New England viewing purposes, this means that three upcoming Friday night Red Sox games will be on Apple TV and not NESN. They are as follows:

May 24th: Brewers @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

May 31st: Tigers @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

June 28th: Padres @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

Fortunately, Apple TV happens to currently be offering a two month free trial, meaning you could get it now and be able to watch those three games without being forced to fork over additional cheese. Here’s a link for that. Just remember to cancel after the Padre game. (I’ll remind everybody in that game wrap.)