NEEDHAM – With the Div. 1 state tournament around the corner, the Needham boys volleyball team closed out the regular season Friday night on a major high note.
Despite a late charge that saw visiting No. 6 Westfield nearly force a fifth set after a slow start had it down two, the No. 5 Rockets (17-5) held off the defending Div. 2 state champs for a 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22) nonleague win in a match the Bombers (17-4) only seemed to get better in with time.
Matt Cloonan and Will Rozman each had 12 kills for Needham in a gutsy win, while Andrew Kurdziel added seven kills and four blocks, and the team defense once again proved strong.
“It’s good for guys’ confidence, winning is a skill and you’ve got to learn to do it every year,” said Needham head coach Dave Powell. “That team’s really good. I wouldn’t be shocked if they won the Div. 2 state tournament. … Being able to win against quality programs is important. We’ve had a couple of really quality wins this year, but this one’s up there.”
The gym’s low ceiling gave Westfield early fits, on top of the challenge Needham’s block presented. Kurdziel, Will McDonald, Thomas Klein and Jeremy Bullard-Smith limited the Bombers’ attack, pairing with strong serving and passing to help the Rockets separate themselves in the first two sets.
A 7-2 run in the first built a 19-12 lead too large for Westfield to rally from, and a 7-1 run in the second did the same in a 22-15 lead.
Westfield head coach Tyler Wingate was pleased afterward for the fight his team showed, though, putting the pressure on in the next two sets for a potential five-set thriller.
Bogdan Kuzin (seven kills, two blocks) notched three aces in a 13-6 start to the third set, which Needham rallied to cut to two points. But setter Max Yurtuc (22 assists) spread the ball around in a well-balanced attack that saw five different players notch kills, outscoring Needham 12-6 the rest of the frame to force a fourth set.
Zack Kukharchuk had three of his 10 kills in the frame.
The fourth set was a high-level exchange of long rallies and defensive tenacity, and each attack used their depth to trade blows. Two kills from Cloonan and a Kurdziel block gave Needham a 21-16 lead, only for kills from Kukharchuk, Jake Satkowski and Gio Gonzalez to pull Westfield within a 22-21 deficit.
But two weeks after Needham’s two set lead against Agawam vanished in a reverse sweep loss, the Rockets ended this one on a 4-2 run to secure the win.
“Between sets three and four, I said, ‘Hey, we’ve worked on this. So let’s go out and show people,’ “Powell said.
