April 9th, 2025
• The Rockets fall to 4-1 in the early season with the loss. Needham boys volleyball suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday, April 8th, falling 3-1 to familiar foe and defending state champions Newton North. After dropping the first set by just two points, the Rockets responded with a dominant 25-16 win in the second. But despite holding leads in the third and fourth sets, Needham could not hold off rallies from the Tigers, who came back to win both and close out the match. The first set was a back and forth battle, but Newton North had the advantage on serves, with Simon Vardeh recording three aces. One of those aces came down the stretch, as the Tigers went up 23-20 and eventually took the set 26-24. Needham found themselves down 7-3 to start the second set as Vardeh continued his strong serving, adding two more aces to his total. But the Rockets battled back to tie the set at 10. The teams traded points to 15 before Needham began to pull away, going on a 10-1 run to close the set. Ben Vu scored the set point on an ace, finishing off the comeback for the Rockets to take the set 25-16. The third set started close, but the Rockets were able to jump out to a 14-11 lead and force the Tigers to use a timeout. Needham extended their lead to four, but Newton North rallied back to make it 19-18. Trailing by one, Vardeh added another ace to tie the game at 22 apiece. From there, Newton North would force two Rockets’ errors to finish the set, winning 26-24. The fourth set was a different story, as Needham fell behind by four points early on. But, just like Newton North did in the third set, the Rockets fought hard and eventually took a 22-17 lead late. Unfortunately, that is where things would start to go wrong for Needham, as the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to close out the game. Tyler Goldberg had an impressive defensive game for the Rockets, making timely digs and stifling Vardeh’s effectiveness on serves later in the match. On offense, Needham was relatively balanced, with Andrew Kurdziel and Matthew Cloonan leading the way with 12 kills each. Will McDonald and Ben Vu followed with seven kills a piece. The team will look to bounce back on Thursday, April 10th, when they face a strong Brookline team on the road. Sports Anchor Ben Gilman has the highlights from this game below:
• The Rockets fall to 4-1 in the early season with the loss. Needham boys volleyball suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday, April 8th, falling 3-1 to familiar foe and defending state champions Newton North. After dropping the first set by just two points, the Rockets responded with a dominant 25-16 win in the second. But despite holding leads in the third and fourth sets, Needham could not hold off rallies from the Tigers, who came back to win both and close out the match. The first set was a back and forth battle, but Newton North had the advantage on serves, with Simon Vardeh recording three aces. One of those aces came down the stretch, as the Tigers went up 23-20 and eventually took the set 26-24. Needham found themselves down 7-3 to start the second set as Vardeh continued his strong serving, adding two more aces to his total. But the Rockets battled back to tie the set at 10. The teams traded points to 15 before Needham began to pull away, going on a 10-1 run to close the set. Ben Vu scored the set point on an ace, finishing off the comeback for the Rockets to take the set 25-16. The third set started close, but the Rockets were able to jump out to a 14-11 lead and force the Tigers to use a timeout. Needham extended their lead to four, but Newton North rallied back to make it 19-18. Trailing by one, Vardeh added another ace to tie the game at 22 apiece. From there, Newton North would force two Rockets’ errors to finish the set, winning 26-24. The fourth set was a different story, as Needham fell behind by four points early on. But, just like Newton North did in the third set, the Rockets fought hard and eventually took a 22-17 lead late. Unfortunately, that is where things would start to go wrong for Needham, as the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to close out the game. Tyler Goldberg had an impressive defensive game for the Rockets, making timely digs and stifling Vardeh’s effectiveness on serves later in the match. On offense, Needham was relatively balanced, with Andrew Kurdziel and Matthew Cloonan leading the way with 12 kills each. Will McDonald and Ben Vu followed with seven kills a piece. The team will look to bounce back on Thursday, April 10th, when they face a strong Brookline team on the road. Sports Anchor Ben Gilman has the highlights from this game 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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