NATICK – A year after being upset on their home court in the Div. 1 state quarterfinals, the Natick boys volleyball team was determined to not let that happen again in the same round Sunday afternoon.

It wasn’t always pretty against a talented No. 6 Winchester, but the No. 3 RedHawks (18-3) saw that mission through with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-11) win to advance to their first state semifinal since 2019.

Senior star setter Harrison Landry made his typical impact with 43 assists, finding junior Branch Barnes (15 kills) and three others for at least eight kills. The Red and Black (18-5) challenged Natick plenty behind Jamie Watt (19 kills) and Tuto Sampaio (17 kills, four blocks), but couldn’t roll their momentum over from the third set into a lopsided fourth.

The RedHawks now get a rubber match with No. 2 Newton North on Monday at Newton South (7:15 p.m.).

“Our goal from the beginning, from Day 1, from tryouts, was to make Final Four,” said Natick head coach Peter Suxho. “This year, they’re one year older and they performed better, we performed very well (and) we’re better than (we were) last year. … I told the boys, ‘Don’t forget last year.’”

“None of us forget what happened here last year,” Landry said. “We had such a big emotional attachment to this game. We just had to push through this game and then we’re in the Final Four, and we go from there.”

Nerves got in the way at the start, as five Natick errors bogged it down to a 6-2 deficit and forced Suxho to take a rare early timeout. From there, the RedHawks looked much more like themselves.

A pair of Barnes kills out of the timeout turned the wheels, and junior middle John Carroll (nine kills, four blocks) got Natick rolling with three kills in a 7-1 run to take the lead. Kills from senior Nic Bonavire (11 kills), Carroll and senior Matt Salerno (eight kills, two aces) closed out a 25-18 first set.

“We were making some unforced errors that we don’t make normally,” Landry said. “We weren’t playing Natick volleyball. … That (timeout’s) conversation was just cut errors, go back to playing Natick volleyball.”

“We did very well attacking the ball in the middle,” Suxho added. “It was powerful and it was a big step to winning the set.”

Watt erupted for nine kills in a back-and-forth second set. Sampaio was right behind him with seven kills as setter Adam Lubomirksi’s (33 assists) found them both well.

Balance and precise passing continued to push Natick, though, as Barnes, Salerno and Bonavire all recorded at least two points in the set. After Winchester pulled within a 22-21 deficit, a kill from Barnes, a block from junior middle Simon Pedrelli (kill, four blocks) and an ace from Salerno sealed a 25-21 win.

“Everyone stepped up around (Barnes),” Landry said. “You can watch film and find out that (Barnes) is our best hitter and that they’re going to try to block (him). … We used that against them. We set (Salerno), we set (Carroll), we set (Bonavire) and they all stepped up very well.”

Winchester delivered a gutsy response for a 25-20 third set to extend the match. But Natick started the fourth set on a 6-2 run, which quickly snowballed to an 11-3 lead. Winchester couldn’t get it back on track, and a 7-1 RedHawks run put them up 19-6.

“I think we all knew that third set was not our best,” Barnes said. “As soon as that was over, we regrouped. … We said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to win this set. We’re going to dominate. We have to.’”