METHUEN — Klimas Fieldhouse, the home court for Methuen High volleyball, is still on Ranger Road.
But sophomore outside hitter Cole Tourkantonis says Ranger volleyball success is born and bred on Milk Street.
“Veterans Park …,” the 6-foot-3 Tourkantonis says proudly. “It all starts there in the summer. We have a portable net, and we just brought it to the park and play all day. Just us (no coaches), all of these guys, all day long, all night.”
The love of the game is alive and well in Methuen. And so are the Rangers. Despite a damaging hit at graduation, losing the likes of Drew Eason and James Levesque, the Rangers are off to a 4-1 start after Friday’s 3-0 dispatching of Billerica.
Tourkantonis is smack-dab in the middle of all this.
“He eats, drinks and sleeps volleyball and is fast working his way to being one of the best players in the league,” said Methuen coach Matt Twomey.
The big fella, who doesn’t play basketball despite his long, athletic frame, is on the volleyball fast-track.
“Everyone always asks about basketball, but I tell them I can’t shoot,” joked Tourkantonis, who played soccer as a freshman and plans to return to the pitch for Methuen next fall.
It was the fall of his freshman year where he discovered the game of volleyball, watching his twin sister, Maya.
“I watched her play and decided I wanted to give it a shot,” Cole said.
A freshman season on the Ranger JV team lit the fire. Tourkantonis immersed himself in the game. He devoured YouTube video and found himself an on-court hero in Team USA hitter TJ DeFalco.
“He’s No. 8, that’s why I wear No. 8. He’s the big role model for my game,” Tourkantonis said.
And then, he and the boys went to work at the park.
“All these boys on this team are like my best friends. We’re playing all day, all night in the summer, and I just fell in love with it,” Tourkantonis said.
The jump to varsity has him thinking big, even just right now as a sophomore.
“There’s not much else (other than volleyball). It’s mostly what I do. I’m at school all day, stay after, get school work done in the library until it’s time for practice. Then, I go home, sleep, and recharge for the next day,” he said.
“I want to play in college, and I don’t want to just play D3. I want to go higher if possible. I’m young. I feel like if I just keep working, good things will happen.”