Rockets Stumble in Second Week of Playoffs

June 6, 2025
• The Rockets went 2-5 this week. 

It was a tough week for most of Needham’s sports teams, with softball, boys and girls lacrosse and tennis all losing in their respective tournaments. That leaves boys volleyball as the only team still standing in the postseason.

After dominating their first round matchups, both tennis teams were eliminated from postseason play this week. No. 9 girls tennis fell on the road to No. 8 Winchester 4-1 in the second round on Monday, June 2. And, while the No. 8 boys team beat No. 25 Braintree on Monday, they were swept in the quarterfinal round 5-0 on Thursday, June 5, by top-ranked St. John’s Prep.

But, on Tuesday, June 3, No. 3 boys volleyball swept Lowell (25-18, 25-10, 25-22) to advance to their fifth straight quarterfinal appearance in the MIAA Division One State Tournament. After a back-and-forth start in the first set, which saw the teams tied at 12, the Rockets went on a 5-1 run to take a four-point lead. Lowell struggled to overcome that gap, and Needham took the set on a service error from Aundre Rivera. The second set had a different feel, as Needham jumped out to a 5-1 lead early and dominated the rest of the way, with another service error from Lowell giving the Rockets the final point of the set. Lowell flipped that script in the third, taking a 5-0 lead out of the gate, thanks to three kills from Rivera and a block by Gianni Rodriguez. Needham was able to storm back and tie the set at nine before taking their first lead of the game, 12-11. The Rockets expanded upon that lead, pushing the game to match point, 24-17, off a kill from Thomas Klein, but Lowell scored five unanswered points before Needham finished the set. The Rockets will host No. 27  Taunton in the quarterfinals on Friday, June 6, at 5 p.m.

On Wednesday, June 4, No. 15 girls lacrosse traveled a short distance for a second round matchup against No. 2 Wellesley, and the Raiders came out on top, 19-6. Similarly, No. 13 boys lacrosse fell on the road to No. 4 Andover, 20-9. After getting on the board first with a goal from Cal Sullivan, the Rockets gave up six unanswered goals before finally finding the back of the net again with 10:48 remaining in the second quarter. The Golden Warriors continued to dominate offensively, taking a 15-3 lead into halftime. While Needham continued to fight, adding six more goals in the second half, they couldn’t keep up with the Andover offense, who netted five more to make the final score 20-9. Sullivan and Matt Ledbury had hat tricks in the loss for the Rockets. No. 13 softball also fell on the road on Wednesday to No. 4 Attleboro, 6-4.

Sports anchor Ben Gilman has the highlights from boys lacrosse and volleyball below:

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.