Freshman Sasha Selivan won the set to junior Devon Burke. Burke made contact, sending the ball off Needham senior Madisyn Fernandes and out of bounds, winning the match. With this final point, girls’ volleyball punched their third ticket in a row to the MIAA State Championship finals, where they will look to secure their second consecutive victory.
The reigning state champions swept Needham 3-0 in the MIAA Division 1 State Semifinal, Wednesday, Nov. 15 at Newton South.
“Both teams played great,” said head coach Nile Fox. “Seeing all of them over the last three years and their progress has just been great. They just keep on getting better and better.”
Burke, an outside hitter, led the team with 15 kills, followed by Selivan with six and senior Chloe Lee with five.
“It felt like we were just doing everything right,” said Burke. “We never let anything get to our heads today and we just played volleyball.”
Needham started strong in the first set with a six point lead, although they lost it quickly to a series of kills created by Selivan, who had a 20 assist night.
The first set drew closer as Needham senior Sam Tam fired nine kills, sending the Tigers into a timeout, down by four.
After the timeout, junior Alexa Marrucci executed an amazing save by kicking the ball up and scoring the winning point of the set.
The Tiger’s began to lose in the last set, giving up eight points in a row and bringing the score to 23-17. Unfazed, North managed to close out the game 25-17, sending them to the finals.
“Whether it’s a win or a loss we don’t think about the past,” said Fox. “We only care about the future and we make sure we are ready for it.”
“All I can say is, Barnstable better watch out this weekend,” said senior JoJo Wang.
