Newton North’s boys’ volleyball team has burst into the season with a 5-0 start, ranking first in the state, after a tight 3-2 win against Needham, Thursday April 11.

Needham, the team that beat North in the state finals last year, had been undefeated for 77 games, until Thursday, which made North’s victory especially satisfying, said junior Simon Vardeh.

“We got close so many times,” he said. “We were the only team that stood a chance and now we finally beat them. Especially after the finals last year this is so much sweeter.”

Junior Paul Nelson, who recovered more quickly than expected from an injury to play against Needham, scored the winning point.

“Feels good to be back,” he said, and scoring the final point felt great.

The team hopes to bring the second state championship of the year to North, with the girls’ team winning in the fall. Nile Fox, the coach of both teams, said they are working hard toward that goal.

“My goal is just to keep getting better as a team and just keep trying to have a good season, and try to make a good playoff run,” he said. “Because we went to the state championship last year and we want to make another run to it.”

In order to improve as a team, Fox runs intense practices and expects that his team shows up ready to win.

“We want to grind and we want to work hard,” he said. “We’re just really practicing being consistent. We’re working with our hitters, working on our serve receive and just trying to get our system right.”

In addition to the hard work, Fox believes that having a good team dynamic has been important to the success so far this season.

“My favorite thing is just the personalities,” he said. “We have a lot of fun here, it’s a lot of fun coaching. All the kids are cool, and we have a good time while we’re trying to win.”

Senior Sam Huang, a captain, also works to foster a good environment.

“We’re good. We’re definitely doing a lot of team bonding,” he said. “We have team dinners pretty frequently. We go out after practice a lot. Everyone from freshman to senior year feels welcome, even if they’re new to the sport or they’re a veteran.”

Brady Dwyer, a junior, said this environment helps him improve as a player and a teammate. He believes that the team communicates well, which is important for a sport like volleyball, where it is necessary to pass and hit with precision.

Huang agrees that the communication has improved as the team members have gotten closer.

“My favorite thing about this team is definitely the bonds that we’ve made already, because it’s pretty fun and I’m enjoying it a lot from my senior year,” he said, “We definitely make sure everyone feels included. We want to be open to change, captains included. And if anyone needs help, they can always come to us.”

Newton North High School Scores

Baseball

Catholic Memorial: 4 (1-2), Tigers: 1 (0-5)

Framingham: 12 (1-2), Tigers: 1

Braintree: 10 (2-1), Tigers 0

Wellesley: 13 (2-1), Tigers 3

Lacrosse, Boys

Tigers: 15 (2-2), Braintree: 0 (0-3)

Framingham: 8 (2-0), Tigers: 3

Wellesley: 10 (3-0), Tigers: 5

Lacrosse, Girls

Braintree: 13 (3-2), Tigers: 6 (2-2)

Tigers: 15, Framingham: 4 (0-3)

Softball

Tigers: 7 (2-1), Framingham: 2 (1-1)

Braintree: 10 (2-2), Tigers: 2

Tigers: 6, Wellesley: 5 (2-2)

Tennis, Boys

Tigers: 5 (1-0), Framingham: 0 (0-2)

Tennis, Girls

Tigers: 5 (2-1), Martha’s Vineyard: 0 (1-2)

Tigers: 5, Framingham: 0 (0-2)

Wellesley: 5 (2-0), Tigers: 0

Track and Field, Boys

Tigers: 85 (1-0), Brookline: 51 (1-1)

Track and Field, Girls

Tigers: 85 (1-0), Brookline: 54 (1-1)

Ultimate Frisbee, Boys

Lexington: 15 (1-0), Tigers: 5 (0-2)

Ultimate Frisbee, Girls

Tigers: 13 (2-0), Lexington: 1 (1-1)

Volleyball, Boys

Tigers: 3 (5-0), Braintree: 0 (4-1)

Tigers: 3, Lions: 0 (2-3)

Tigers: 3, Framingham: 0 (1-4)

Tigers: 3, Needham: 2 (4-1)

Newton South High School Scores

Baseball

Brookline: 3 (5-1), Lions: 1 (3-1)

Lions: 9 (3-1), Boston Latin Academy: 1 (1-1)

Lions: 13 (3-1), Cambridge Rindge & Latin: 3 (1-1)

Lions: 12 (3-1), Bedford: 9 (1-2)

Lacrosse, Boys

Milton: 16 (1-1), Lions: 3 (1-2)

Framingham: 16 (2-0), Lions: 2 (1-2)

Lions: 8 (1-2), Bedford: 2 (0-2)

Lacrosse, Girls

Lexington: 16 (4-0), Lions: 4 (0-3)

Ursuline Academy: 11 (3-0), Lions: 9 (0-3)

Bedford: 18 (2-2), Lions: 5 (0-3)

Softball

Lions: 16 (2-1), Boston Latin Academy: 14 (0-3)

Lions: 13 (2-1), Boston Latin: 3 (0-5)

Bedford: 13 (2-0), Lions: 0 (2-1)

Tennis, Boys

Needham: 4 (1-0), Lions: 1 (0-2)

Bedford: 4 (1-0), Lions: 1 (0-2)

Tennis, Girls

Lions: 5 (3-0), Brookline: 0 (3-1)

Lions: 5 (3-0), Arlington: 0 (2-2)

Lions: 5 (3-0), Bedford: 0 (0-2)

Volleyball, Boys

Lions: 3 (2-3), Acton-Boxborough: 1 (1-1)

Milford: 3 (5-0), Lions: 0 (2-3)

Newton North: 3 (5-0), Lions: 0 (2-3)

Medfield: 3 (5-2), Lions: 1 (2-3)

Lions: 3 (2-3), Wellesley: 0 (1-4)

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