September 17, 2026
• Girls volleyball took care of business in their home opener.
After losing twelve seniors to graduation, the Needham girls volleyball team has reloaded and has started strong, winning their first three games, including the first home game at the A Gym 3-0 Thursday afternoon against Milton. The Rockets then hosted Brookline a day later, falling for the first time this season in straight sets, while the football team fell just short at Lincoln-Sudbury 12-7.
On Thursday, girls volleyball welcomed the Wildcats and started off strong, with an 11-7 lead in the first. Milton battled to within one, at 11-10, before the Rockets took control. Junior Arianna Tu served eight aces as Needham built a double digit lead before they took the first set, 25-13.
Senior captain Sam Sullivan, who is injured and unable to play this fall, still came in for a special serve on set point, which the Rockets closed out for her. Sullivan moved off court after the serve, so Needham was playing one down. That wouldn’t be the only time Sullivan made an appearance.
Just like in the first set, Needham took the lead immediately in the second and had leads of 9-6 and 20-15, but never pulled away. Milton senior Keira Clark, who will be playing for Bentley next fall, had four of her team high ten kills in the second, while the Rockets countered with junior MacKenzie Fernandes and sophomore Dani Hatziiliades, who each had four kills as well.
The Rockets took the second set, 25-21 and despite Milton taking the lead to start the third, handled business to complete the sweep. Needham won 25-14 after taking leads of 17-9 and 19-10.
Tu added three aces in both the second and third sets to finish with sixteen for the game, along with a pair of kills. Hatziiliades had three kills in the first and third sets, as she tied Clark with the game high with ten.
Dani also added two aces and two blocks. Fernandes finished with seven kills for the Rockets, as sophomore Gabby Kuper chipped in with five, while junior Sylvie Kim had four.
After Friday’s home game against Brookline, Needham takes to the road for two games. The first is Wednesday, September 23rd at Walpole and the second is Friday, September 25th at Winchester, who knocked Needham out the postseason last fall in the Round of 16.
The Rockets return home on Tuesday, September 29th at Weymouth, then host Braintree on Thursday, October 1st, a game that will be recorded by The Needham Channel.
On Friday night, Needham football hoped to rebound from a rough 41-0 opening loss at Natick with a win at Lincoln-Sudbury. The first quarter was a defensive struggle, with neither team getting on the board.
In the second quarter, senior quarterback Jamie Champa got the Warriors on the board with a thirteen yard touchdown run. The conversion failed, however, so Lincoln-Sudbury’s lead at halftime was 6-0.
Needham got some momentum in the third quarter, when senior Parker Amodeo recovered a fumble caused by senior Mason Hark. Preston Pinckney then cashed in, running for a 28 yard TD. Zach Kravetz then kicked the extra point through to give Needham its first lead of 2026.
The Rockets had a chance to take control late in the third quarter, when Shakur Jacques intercepted a long pass by Champa. However, Akhai Marshall took the ball away, giving the Warriors great field position to start the fourth quarter.
Champa would take advantage, scoring on another touchdown to put L-S up for good. The win evens the Warriors’ record to 1-1 on the season with a trip to Brockton coming up next.
At 0-2, Needham will host their home opener on Friday, September 25th, against St. John’s Prep (2-0). The last time the Rockets faced the Eagles, they upset them in the 2024 MIAA Division 1 Semifinals.
Here are some of the Needham highlights from Friday night’s football game:
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