Newton North holds off Needham in boys volleyball clash, 3-1

NEEDHAM It took every last ounce of heart and guts for the Newton North boys volleyball group to hold off Needham from a four-peat in last year s Div state final as it rallied in five sets to secure its first state title Those intangibles and then certain were on full display in Tuesday night s rematch to show the Tigers may very well be the top dog to beat this year too Star senior Simon Vardeh kills six aces four blocks anchored a talented returning group that delivered when it mattered most of helping lift No Newton North - to a - win - - - - over the No Rockets on the road That included an - run to end the final set and prevent Needham - from forcing a deciding fifth frame Needham has been the poster child of success in the sport at - since All four losses are to Newton North in consecutive head-to-head matchups I don t want to say we re the gang to beat but just I want them to know that we re still a group that s ready to compete at all times revealed Tigers head coach Nile Fox I just want to be a unit that s known to be a contender And we still hold that mentality that we want to keep the trophy I think the win tells us that we re still at that level Vardeh added I think we still have a lot to work on that was not our best showing But it s still really good to get the win I think we re the best club in the state still We have particular big games coming up and I think we re going to show that Another rock-fight between Bay State Conference powerhouses didn t disappoint with each trading runs to show how evenly matched the two are early on That presented itself with - draws in the first and third sets which Needham and Newton North both scored after to remain neck-and-neck at -all But the Tigers scored the next two points to take the sets both times the first on kills from Vardeh and Bryson Mercedes five kills and the third on a pair of errors from Needham The Rockets responded to both with long runs in the second and fourth sets Matt Cloonan kills helped lead a - run to win the second handedly and Andrew Kurdziel kills two blocks anchored a - lead in the fourth Setters Luke Vivaldi assists and Nate Ross assists spread the wealth effectively all match too especially to Ben Vu and Will McDonald But Newton North setter Paul Nelson assists connected with Vardeh and Kayden Burns-Wong while Peter Reale heated up with a pair of blocks to force a - tie A Vardeh block and libero Brady Dwyer s ace sealed the - run to close it out Needham s Tyler Goldberg digs for the ball as Newton-North takes on Needham in boys volleyball on April Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald We had high highs and low lows Vardeh declared But we had high highs when it mattered When it really mattered we were gritty with our play and we were able to get those couple points to win those sets Fox was impressed with how his association handled business even earlier in those sets too putting itself in position to be close down the wire in three of the four sets We were aggressive and it was really gritty play he reported A bunch of the sets we were down We would push back and it was just from plays it wasn t from anybody in general We made plays as a band and when we needed to After serving as a hitter in last year s title run Fox has also been impressed with Nelson so far in his new role I think he s doing a great job he stated He s working really hard to just get adjusted to it I m really proud of what he s done