In his home office, St. John’s of Shrewsbury boys volleyball head coach Dan Seaver has a special picture on the wall.

His players are lined up and posing on the Pioneers’ home court, all wearing pink jerseys. Beside them is a BC High group happily welcomed into the picture, all in purple.

The two had just played each other in a game with big Catholic Conference implications in 2023, which St. John’s won, 3-0, in front of a crowd of about 200. It was a huge part of a memorable season that went as far as the Div. 1 state semifinals.

But what made it so impactful was less about the win, and more because of the $3,500-plus the Pioneers raised for brain cancer research. That game was dedicated to then-senior Tripp Menhall and his mother, who had passed several months earlier from a long battle with the disease.

St. John’s made sure to pack the gym and give everything it had.

“When we had (Menhall’s) situation, the guys obviously rallied around him,” Seaver said. “It’s things like that that I love to see.”

Every year since Seaver took over the program in 2018, the Pioneers have organized a fundraiser game. They plan it for a big opponent, look to pack the gym, and each game is dedicated differently.

Most programs across the state plan such games – many of which are for cancer awareness, research or care. And when Seaver introduced it to St. John’s in 2018, he chose a cause dear to him and something he has experience fundraising for – ALS, which his father, Wally Seaver, passed from.

In the years since, though, Seaver has taken a different approach.

“I’ve always liked to do something because obviously I went through my dad’s situation in high school,” Seaver said. “Each year, I talk to the captains in the offseason and say, ‘Hey, what do you guys want to do?’ … Then it really relates to them. It relates to kind of what that group is going through.”

In 2023, the team rallied around Menhall. Another year, they worked to raise awareness for opioid addiction.

Seaver says there have been five or six different causes the team has backed since he opened the choice to his team. This year’s group chose mental health awareness – which doesn’t exactly rally around a situation with a specific player on the team, but is a big topic the team felt deserved their efforts.

The game is on May 14 against reigning state champion Newton North, which should have plenty of juice. Just like every year, there will be entry fees, a 50/50 raffle, donated items up for raffle and a bake sale – all of which goes to crisis and intervention.

“(The fundraiser game is) a big thing,” said star senior Francis McGonagle. “It’s usually the most packed game of the season for us, which is nice. It just feels good to give back something. All this hard work, it’s not just toward volleyball. It’s about something more important, something bigger outside of ourselves. That’s what feels nice about it.”

“Seeing the maturity, the growth from them from that little (junior varsity) kid to now,” Seaver said. “That’s my goal with this program. Grow as volleyball players, but also grow as people, grow a maturity and responsibility. … It’s a huge piece of it.”

There’s a dual purpose to these dedicated games for St. John’s, too: A cause, and further strengthening community within and around it.

Against BC High on April 14, the Pioneers acknowledged the Notre Dame Academy of Worcester girls volleyball team with decorations, flowers for their captains, and a pizza party. St. John’s holds a big gala in the gym for two or three days each year, and NDA lets the Pioneers use their court for practices or games in that time.

In the five years Winchester has hosted the four-team ALS One Invitational over April vacation to raise awareness for ALS, St. John’s has participated in four of them – including this year’s. And the Pioneers even end some practices early to attend the games of other teams at the school to show school support.

“The biggest thing for me that I’ve seen is the camaraderie, the coming together,” Seaver said. “We’re coming together as a community. There’s still sport – there’s going to be that head-to-head, but at the end of the day, we’re all friends.”

“The NDA game – we felt like this is kind of the time. We’ve got to thank them for all these times of just giving up their gym for us,” McGonagle added. “(And) going to see your buddies play (other sports), it’s absolutely awesome. It develops that sense of school pride.”

St. John’s is in a bit of a rut since a five-game win streak, losing to Natick, Needham and Greater New Bedford over school vacation week as it continues to struggle with staying healthy. In the past, even last year, that stretch would derail spirits.

This year’s group, partly because of their community efforts around them, is particularly close, though. There are 10 seniors on the team, and players hung out the same night after losing to Natick.

The Pioneers are 5-6 with a string of wins and losses against premier teams in the state – but Seaver and McGonagle know that the losses won’t bring them down as hard as they did in the past.

“We are not the same team,” McGonagle said. “We knew some losses would be coming. … We’re just looking at it as experience, that we’ve seen another team that we could run into again.”

Bay State Domination

The power four out of the Bay State Conference seem to be in their own tier atop the Div. 1 state title race.

Needham (9-2), Natick (6-2) and Newton North (7-2) beat each other in a triangular loop of parity early on, while Brookline (8-0) defeated all three in competitive matches. Otherwise, they’re a combined 24-0, and are 11-0 in nonleague play with collective wins over top-25 foes Wayland, New Bedford, Cambridge, St. John’s Prep, St. John’s (S), Methuen, Winchester and Greater New Bedford.

Familiarity atop the MVC

Early impressions of major turnovers in Lowell and Methuen were that the two could be headed toward a down year with players in new prominent roles.

Those impressions were wrong.

Returning setter Shawn LaDuke has lit up the stat sheet thus far by connecting with primary options Andrew Cox and Lucas Giard, helping defending Merrimack Valley Conference champion Methuen (7-2) rip off a seven-game win streak.

Libero Logan Uy and setter Vitou Seng have starred for Lowell (8-1) in the meantime, helping defeat preseason conference favorite Chelmsford within a nearly flawless record (five-set loss to Cambridge).

The two face off for the first time this year on Monday in Lowell (5 p.m.).