Needham back in a familiar place

HIGH SCHOOLS

Rockets make fifth straight Div. 1 volleyball final

Needham head coach Dave Powell celebrates the win with the team as Natick takes on Needham in the semifinals of boys volleyball on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO BY STUART CAHILL — BOSTON HERALD

Needham’s Ben Vu reaches for the save as Natick takes on Needham in the semifinals of boys volleyball Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO BY STUART CAHILL — BOSTON HERALD

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By Matt Roy

mattnascar2000@gmail.com

CONCORD >> After seeing his team swept by Natick late in the regular season, Needham coach Dave Powell knew the Rockets would have to find some answers if they encountered the Redhawks come tournament time.

On Tuesday, his charges found the answers they were looking for and with it, left Natick grasping at straws. The Rockets steamed to a 3-1 win and a fifth straight trip to the Division 1 boys volleyball final, led by outside hitting dominance from Matt Cloonan and Will Rozner, and a defense that stymied Natick all night long.

“Natick is such a good team and a really good program,” Powell said. “We said coming in that we wanted to hit in transition and that got them out of their system a little bit.”

It didn’t hurt for the Rockets on Tuesday that libero Tyler Goldberg had arguably his best game of the season. His digging on the backline was able to give Cloonan and Rozner free swings at the net.

“Tyler really changed things,” Powell said.

The Rockets set the tone for the day almost from the opening serve. A 13-2 run early in game one opened up a 10-point lead as Natick couldn’t find an answer.

The Redhawks did close the gap as close as 21-13 before Needham easily closed the opening game, 25-14.

Game two was more like what was expected between the Bay State League rivals before Needham once again used its defense to key its offense. Back-to-back kills from Cloonan and Rozner capped a 10-2 run that eventually led to another 25-14 win and a commanding two games to none lead.

Desperately in need of some momentum, Natick finally got a foothold for the first time in the match early in game three. Cody Gibendi capped a 7-2 run that led to a Needham timeout with Natick leading 12-7.

The Rockets responded with a 6-1 spurt to tie things at 13 before Gibendi and Branch Barnes took over for Natick. They both ended game three with four kills as the Redhawks tried to engineer a reverse sweep.

Cloonan, Rozner and company however were having none of that notion, leading Needham to commanding lead early in game four via an 11-2 run that made it 15-6. Natick fought back to 17-13 before four straight kills from Cloonan ended the momentum and helped get Needham over the line and back to the finals.

“It was great to see how the kids responded after losing that third game by playing how they did,” Powell said.