Girls Volleyball Wins Tough Battle, Football Falls on the Road

October 2, 2026
• Girls volleyball improved to 6-2 with their win, while football dropped their fourth straight game.

Needham girls volleyball defeated Braintree in four sets (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 26-24) on Oct. 1 at home, improving to 6-2 on the year. Meanwhile, football lost a tough 45-12 game at Walpole on Oct. 2.

The Rockets dropped the first set against Braintree Thursday in the A Gym, 25-21, but responded with three straight set wins to close out the match. Sophomores Daniela Hatziiliades and Gabriella Kuper led Needham with 18 and 15 kills, respectively.

Needham took an 11-7 lead in the first set, but the Wamps battled back to tie the set at 15. Braintree won the next four points, forcing a Needham timeout. Out of the timeout, the Wamps added two more points to take a commanding 21-15 lead late. The Rockets would not go away easily however, winning four straight points to make it a two point deficit at 22-20. Braintree used a timeout and went on a 3-1 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 match lead.

After establishing a 3-0 lead in the second set, the Rockets gave up six straight points, and played from behind for a majority of the set. Braintree led 20-15 before the Rockets went on a 8-3 run, and tied the set at 23. Makenzei Demier-Fernandes made a crucial block to put Needham up 24-23, their first lead since early in the set. Sloane Seidman then served an ace for the Rockets, giving them the set, 25-23, and tying the match at one.

Braintree flipped the script in the third, getting out to a 3-0 lead. They pushed that lead to four points, before the Rockets tied the set up at 11. Hatziiliades hit a big kill on the left side to give Needham their first lead of the set at 15-14. Needham won the next two points, before the Wamps called a timeout. Braintree tied the set at 18 out of the timeout, but Needham reestablished a lead shortly after. Kuper made it 23-21 with her 12th kill of the game, before the Rockets won the set on a service error by Olivia Lu.

A back and forth fourth set saw Needham take a 12-9 lead before Braintree used a timeout. The Rockets extended their lead to 16-9, before the Wamps scored six straight points to pull back within one. Braintree later tied the game at 21, and the teams went back and forth again. Tied at 24, Braintree was called for a violation that gave Needham a one point lead. Hatziiliades put the exclamation point on the match with her 18th kill of the game, her 83rd of the season, which deflected off a Wamp to give Needham the set 26-24 and the game 3-1.

Demier-Fernandes had seven blocks in the victory for the Rockets, while Arianna Tu added six aces.

The Rockets, ranked 7th in the latest MIAA Division One power rankings, hosted Lincoln Sudbury on Oct. 2, and swept to Lincoln-Sudbury, bringing their record to 7-2.

Needham football’s struggles continued at Walpole on Friday night, as the Rockets fell to the Timberwolves, 45-12.

Walpole, who is ranked 10th in division four, has scored an average of 31 points a game throughout their first four contests.

The Rockets went 3 and out to start the game, but their defense held Walpole to a field goal on their opening drive. The Timberwolves scored on their next two possessions to take a 17-0 lead in the first quarter. Needham got their offense going late in the quarter with a 27 yard pass from Jack Ringer to Schandler Appolon.

Ringer broke lose on a quarterback draw and scored a 41 yard rushing touchdown to start the second quarter, but the Rockets extra point was blocked, making the score 17-6.

Needham’s defense forced a Walpole 3 and out on their next possession. Shortly after that, the Rockets struck again, this time on a 73 yard touchdown reception on a screen pass to Preston Pinckney. The Rockets opted to go for two, but Mason Hark was stopped short of the goal line.

Leading 17-12, Walpole went on long drive that ended with a three-yard rushing touchdown from Falcone, his second touchdown of the day. The Rockets offense stalled on their next possession, and Zach Kravetz’s punt was returned for a touchdown by Jack Brenner to make it 31-12 Walpole at halftime.

Ringer had 124 passing yards in the first half for the Rockets, while the team had a 183 total offensive yards, their highest of the season.

Needham forced a fumble in the third quarter, and Jayden Greenfield recovered it for the Rockets. After moving the ball down the field a bit, Ringer threw his first interception of the game.

After holding the Walpole offense, Ringer threw another interception on the next Needham drive. This time, the Timberwolves would take advantage of the turnover with a two-yard touchdown run from Falcone, his third of the night and 7th of the season.

Walpole brought their backup quarterback into the game in the fourth quarter, and at the 9:43 mark the lights turned off in the stadium. After a brief pause, Walpole scored another rushing touchdown to make it a final of 45-12.

Needham falls to 0-4 with the loss and will host Milton, who is ranked 5th in division three, at Memorial Field on Friday, Oct. 9.