Girls Volleyball Defeats Newton North for First Time in Four Years

October 7, 2026
• The Rockets had lost seven straight games to the Tigers prior to Tuesday’s win. 

Needham girls volleyball defeated Newton North in five sets (14-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 17-15) on Oct. 6, their first win over the Tigers since 2022.

“To be that team to win after so long is so incredible, it’s like the best feeling I’ve ever had,” said Needham captain Lilian Soulia in a postgame interview.

Before the game, the MIAA released a new set of Division 1 girls volleyball rankings. Newton North was ranked No. 4, one spot ahead of No. 5 Needham. 

Newton North took a commanding 10-3 lead in the first set, forcing Needham to use a timeout. The Tigers continued to extend their lead out of the timeout, as the Rockets struggled to get their offense going. Needham went down 21-10, their biggest deficit of the match, and could not get any closer, as Pepper Johnson served an ace on set point to give Newton North the set 25-14.

The Rockets jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the second set, and continued to roll behind strong kills from Daniela Hatziiliades to push the lead to 14-7. But Newton North went on a 9-4 run to get back within two. On set point for Needham, Margot Dies’ kill was blocked out of bounds by the Tigers, and the Rockets took the second set 25-21 to tie the match.

Momentum stayed on Needham’s side in the third, as they took an 13-7 lead. Newton North used their first timeout of the set, and scored four straight points to make it 13-11. But Needham then went on a 5-1 run after that to stretch their lead back to six. The Tigers got closer, but could not close the gap, and Hatziiliades ended the set at 25-19 with soft, well-placed kill to the middle of the court to give the Rockets a 2-1 match lead.

The teams exchanged points early in the fourth set, before the Tigers established a 10-5 lead. They continued to extend that lead, and Nora Hamel made it 19-11 Newton North with an ace that forced Needham to use their second timeout of the set. The Rockets got back within two, 22-20, with a 9-3 run out of the timeout. Despite that effort, the Tigers took the fourth set 25-21, forcing a fifth and final set.

With a playoff-like atmosphere in the A-Gym for the fifth set, Newton North went up 8-2. But, Needham stormed back with a 12-6 run to tie the set at 14. Arianna Tu gave the Rockets their first lead of the set with an ace, but Hamel kept the Tigers alive with a kill on the next play to tie the set at 15. Following the kill, Newton North’s serve went out of bounds, putting Needham back up by one. After a back and forth point, Hamel’s kill attempt went out of bounds and the Rockets won the set 17-15, and the match 3-2.

“We were able to really harness each skill we have on defense and offense, and then using that and playing smart, adjusting to what they were doing,” said Soulia after the win.

Needham won their only other fifth set game of the season over Wellesley on Sept. 15. Newton North is now 3-2 in five set games this season.

Hatziiliades led the Rockets with 20 kills, as the team improved to 8-2 on the season. Ariana Tu racked up 30 assists and five aces in the win, while Makenzei Demier-Fernandes had seven blocks. Needham will face another top-five team in Brookline, who swept them earlier in the season, on Thursday, Oct. 8.

“Going from this huge win shows us [that] as long as we stick together, lean on each other, we can really beat any team,” said Soulia.