NEWTON – In a leadership role with the Needham boys volleyball team this year, senior setter Devin Dellamarggio didn’t feel pressure trying to continue a historic reign the program’s leaders before him paved over the last four years – but instead felt privileged to step into it.
Pressured, privileged or not, he and the top-seeded, three-time defending state champion Rockets are now one win away from the mountaintop again by cruising past No. 4 Milford 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-14) in a Div. 1 state semifinal Monday night at Newton South.
Dellamarggio dished 28 assists and senior Brian Cloonan posted 15 kills in a well-rounded performance from Needham (24-2). Senior libero Owen Ching and Ben Vu thrived on defense behind exceptional blocking, and serving put the Scarlet Hawks (16-6) in difficult spots all match.
“It feels great,” Dellamarggio said. “Seeing their success when I was a freshman just kind of motivated me to do the same when it was my time. We’ve all worked really hard together, all the seniors, juniors, sophomores, from the top down.”
“It just means everything to me,” Cloonan added. “This senior group is so close with one another, it’s just amazing to go out there and play with them every single day. I just don’t want it to end.”
Needham lost its 77-game win streak earlier in the year, but a big-picture focus on the next step forward in and after every match has defined a continued success that head coach Dave Powell doesn’t boast, but also doesn’t take for granted.
The Rockets’ fourth straight trip to the Div. 1 state final gives them seven appearances in the last nine years.
“How hard our guys work, how hard the coaching staff works – it’s not lost on us,” Powell said. “I grew up in a household with a dad who was a basketball coach and he was scratching to get to 10-10 a lot of years. It’s not lost on me, what’s going on.
“I think people forget that before the Ben Putnams, and the Owen Fannings and the Raymond Wengs, we had a whole other group of dudes and they did it in this (grind it out) style. … We’re used to this (type of winning).”
Milford didn’t make it easy on Needham at the start of each set, but couldn’t seem to keep up after the Rockets hit a groove.
Cloonan, Luke Lorence (eight kills, three blocks) and Will McDonald (three kills, four blocks) were right in the middle of the momentum shift in the first set, anchoring a 13-3 run after Milford came within a 12-11 deficit. Lorence had four of his kills and two blocks in the stretch.
The Scarlet Hawks were right on Needham’s tail again in the second set, taking advantage of a sloppy stretch from the Rockets. Alex Guerra (10 kills, block) and Gustavo Da Silva (four kills) helped them pull within a 16-15 deficit. But McDonald, Lorence and Jeremy Bullard-Smith (two kills, four blocks) paced a 9-1 run to close out a 25-16 win and a 2-0 match lead.
“I think we’re such a mentally strong team,” Cloonan said. “Even if we get down, we have that confidence that we’re going to come back.”
Serving and blocking again were at the forefront.
“We just kept hitting serves and putting a lot of pressure on them,” Dellamarggio said. “Times where they would make a little push, we were able to kind of silence them quick with a big block.”
“Serving is our first line of defense,” Powell added. “We were able to serve and pass tough and our block was able to kind of align.”
Momentum was well in Needham’s favor by that point, starting the third set with a 10-4 lead – punctuated by a Cloonan ace. Milford hung around to stay within a 16-11 deficit, but the Rockets again took off for a 9-3 finish.
