May 9, 2025
• The Rockets are ranked 4th in the MIAA Division One Power Rankings with a 13-2 record.
Needham boys volleyball defeated Braintree in three sets on Tuesday, May 6, extending their win streak to eight games.
It was the toughest test for the Rockets in weeks, who hadn’t played a top 15 team in the MIAA Division One Power Rankings in about month until they hosted the #7-ranked Wamps.
Needham led for the entirety of the match, but Braintree was able to make it interesting with several late set pushes.
The Rockets jumped out to an early three-point lead, which they held for most of the set. But they struggled from the service line, committing eight errors in the set, which allowed Braintree to pull within two late, 20-18. Eventually, Needham was able to pull away, taking the first set 25-19 behind three kills from Matthew Cloonan and Will McDonald.
The second set followed a similar script, as the Rockets took a 4-1 lead and forced an early timeout from the Wamps. After a back-and-forth set in which both teams went on runs, Braintree tied it at 22 before Needham scored the next three points to take the second set 25-22 and the 2-0 lead. Andrew Kurdziel carried the Rockets offensively with five of his 11 kills in the game, while Luke Vivaldi recorded six assists in the set.
In the third, Needham led 21-15, but the Wamps battled back, pulling with one multiple times down the stretch. Braintree got close but never took the lead from the Rockets, who completed the sweep with another 25-22 victory. Cloonan and Kurdziel combined for 10 kills, while Nate Ross added eight assists to finish with a team-high 18 in the match.
Allan Ho led the way for Braintree with six kills, followed by Justin Liu with five. Nico Viazzoli also had a strong game for Needham, finishing with four aces, five kills, and three blocks.
The Rockets followed up the win with a four-set victory over defending state champion Newton North on Thursday, May 8, avenging an earlier season loss to the Tigers. Cloonan and McDonald led Needham offensively with 12 and eight kills, respectively, but the Tigers were without their star, Simon Vardeh.
The team will return back to the A-Gym on Tuesday, May 13, for a big matchup against top-ranked Brookline, who swept the Rockets earlier this season.
Sports anchor Mike Levin has the highlights from the game against Braintree below:
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The highlights above ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site. |
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