NEEDHAM >> No. 3 Natick handed the No. 1 Brookline boys volleyball team its first loss of the year last week.

Brookline made sure it stayed their only loss Tuesday night.

Behind fast starts in the first two sets and strong finishes in the last two, the Warriors (13-1) further solidified their confidence as a leading Div. 1 title contender with another 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-22, 25-18) over No. 4 Needham — this time in a gym none of them had ever won in before.

Alec Smagula posted 15 of his 35 assists in a slugfest of a third set, pairing with Kris Vaivars (17 kills, three aces) to anchor an otherwise well-rounded win.

After losing in five sets when it didn’t play its best against Natick, this was a major boost for Brookline with the state tournament less than two weeks away.

“I think that loss kind of woke us up a little bit, we were getting a little bit too comfortable in the spot that we were,” said Warriors head coach Lexi De La Cruz. “It also helped the coaches figure out what we needed to work on. … Right now, I think the confidence is better than last week. We’re heading into playoffs.”

“(Natick) is a good team and they made us pay for (a slow return from April break),” Vaivars added. “Coming back from that loss, we know we don’t want that to happen again. So, good win today.”

Needham took some time to get into its rhythm, falling into 6-1 holes in the first two sets. The first never saw it get closer than a 15-12 deficit, but a few quality stretches in the middle of the second, and most of the third set, showed the tenacious battle to expect if the two teams meet again in the state tournament.

Serving improved in that second set, and Nathaniel Ross and Luke Vivaldi spread the wealth to Will McDonald, Matt Cloonan (five kills), Andrew Kurdziel (four kills, five blocks), Jeremy Smith (six kills, block) and Will Rozman (nine kills) to pull Needham within a 14-13 deficit before teams traded 10 straight side-outs. Kurdziel ended the stretch with a kill, and his two consecutive blocks of Vaivars gave it a 22-20 lead.

But out of a timeout, Brookline ended the second set on a 5-0 run — with a Liam Raybould block sandwiched by four Needham hitting errors. The back-and-forth continued into a 15-15 third set as Tyler Goldberg’s defense off the bench gave the Rockets a significant boost, and Rozman heated up for five kills, but the Warriors took 10 of the next 13 points.

“My kids are focusing on getting the bigger run out of the two teams,” De La Cruz said. “We know that they’re going to get their points, we’re just trying to get the last run.”

Energy and belief from the whole group played a major role in fending off the Rockets.

“Our energy was high the whole time,” Vaivars said. “Once we got that lead, we just knew if we kept pushing, we would win. … We’re all good friends. We all want to support each other, create an energy. And I just think the culture we have at Brookline allows us to do that.”

Strong serve-receive and an aggressive attack played other major roles.

Needham’s block — anchored by Kurdziel, arguably the state’s top middle hitter — challenged Brookline to finish off points after several rallies. Smagula assisted Vaivars nine times, while Amir Tomer (eight kills, block), Liam Raybould (six kills, block), Conor Christopher (six kills, block) and Luka Gallucci also recorded kills.

“I knew that (Kurdziel) was going to get blocks,” De La Cruz said. “I was telling my kids, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter if he’s going to get you once, twice or thrice. In the end, you’re going to get your points, so stay aggressive.’ That’s what happened. … We were aware that they’ve got a good block on the other side.”