LOWELL – Methuen boys volleyball senior James Levesque doesn’t think there’s been a day this year in which the team’s goal of winning a Merrimack Valley Conference title hasn’t come up at least in some capacity.

For the first time since 1998, the Rangers finally took at least a share of it from the two-time defending champs Friday night.

In a battle to decide the leader in the MVC Large race, No. 10 Methuen (15-2) used high energy and dominant play at the net to win a rematch against No. 9 Lowell, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-23).

Levesque led the attack with 17 kills while Drew Eason notched 13 kills, complementing a strong defensive performance from the whole team to avenge a five-set loss to the Red Raiders (15-3) earlier this year.

The Rangers last season put up their winningest season since 2006. Now, a victory over Lawrence on Monday seals the highly-touted conference title outright.

“Three years ago, I said to (the seniors),” said Methuen head coach Matt Twomey. “‘We’re going to build this program around you. You guys are going to take your licks as sophomores, you’re going to take your licks as juniors maybe, but we’re going to come back and we’re going to win the whole thing your senior year,’ and that’s exactly what they did. … Every one of these guys showed up to play today, from the bench all the way through. It was amazing.”

Levesque said of winning the MVC title, “It’s one of the main things we wanted out of this season. It’s great to see it come to fruition.”

Methuen rolled early to a 25-14 win in the opening set, as Shawn Laduke (39 assists) set up Eason and Levesque for five kills each. It allowed Lowell to score consecutive points just twice in the frame.

Eason, Lucas Giard (five kills, four blocks), Andrew Cox (four kills, four blocks) and Jack Flynn (two kills, four blocks) led the defense at the net.

Cody Fitzpatrick (13 kills) and Ceazar Joseph (11 kills, three blocks) started to heat up for Lowell in a much-improved second set, as did Walter Palacio (four kills, two blocks). But once the Red Raiders knotted a rock fight at 16-16, Levesque erupted for seven of his 10 kills in the frame to close out a 25-21 win.

“I get into a mode sometimes where I just don’t think anyone can stop me,” Levesque said. “Luckily, (Laduke) and (Twomey) were like, ‘We’re just going to feed you.’ It worked out perfectly. I was just reading the blocks pretty well and I was getting really good passes and really good sets.”

Lowell was charged up to start the third set. Tyrell Lout (28 assists) orchestrated a 7-5 lead – mostly finding Joseph. Methuen surged in response, only for a trio of Fitzpatrick kills to pull even at 10-10.

Back-and-forth the teams battled until the Red Raiders built a 23-20 advantage with a fourth set in sight. But an Eason kill, two errors from Lowell, a Flynn block and a Levesque kill closed out the 25-23 win for the match.

“We talked about not letting a ball hit the floor today without somebody diving for it,” Twomey said. “These guys, they made some unbelievable plays. … I was just so impressed with what our guys put together today.”

“When we play with high energy, we are a much better team overall,” Eason added. “I think defensively, we had a really great game plan. Obviously, blocking was so much better today, passing. … Everything just came to play today.”