Manny Golob recorded a double-double against Needham, tallying 20 kills and 12 digs Thursday night. (Photo by Robby Veronesi)
WESTFIELD – One of Western Massachusetts’ top volleyball squads fought one of Eastern Massachusetts’ top squads in an intense 2015 season finale Thursday night.
After splitting the first four sets, Needham used an 8-0 run in the final frame to pull away from host Westfield, 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7).
Manny Golob led the homestanding Bombers (16-2, 9-1 North) with a double-double of 20 kills and 12 digs, while both Ryan Bucko and Igor Belokopytov each addded nine kills. Eric Shilyuk dished out 36 assists and Isaiah Headley and Dmitriy Doroshenko led Westfield with 15 digs apiece.
“Ideally, this is how we hoped it would have played out, aside from the result,” said Westfield head coach Tyler Wingate. “Getting a team with that kind of caliber to come here right before the Western Massachusetts tournament opened was kind of the plan and, fortunately, we settled in (after the first set) and played some really nice volleyball. I hope that prepares us for what we’ve got coming up in Western Mass.”
Scoring runs dominated the five-set matchup, with the Rockets of Needham using a 10-3 run to break open set one and increase their lead to 19-12, a deficit that WHS could not come back from. The Bombers tuned up their passing and blocking defense, using an 11-3 run of their own to pull ahead 21-16 midway through the second set. The two teams traded points late in the set and WHS tied the score at one set apiece.
“(There was) expected nervousness in the beginning,” said Wingate. “We couldn’t really settle into the match, but once we got the passing going and got first contacts off their serves, that seemed to change a lot of things. We got a good pass and then we had all three of our hitters as options, and that gave us a good chance to be competitive.”
Westfield took their first match lead after the third set. Down 24-22 and facing set point, the Bombers stormed back and used a miniature 4-0 run to halt the Rockets and take the set, 26-24. The visitors, however, leveled the overall score after the fourth frame in what was a very nip-and-tuck set. Neither team gained a marginal lead, but Needham caught enough breaks to pull away and win 25-21.
“Just having the experience and being in a big match hopefully prepares us for the Western Mass. tournament,” said Wingate. “Manny and Igor had really nice matches and that was really nice to see against a really good blocking team. It was overall a very positive night and we’ll be ready when the seeds come out.”
