Rockets Review: Boys Tennis Takes South Titles

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics

Needham singles players Aaron Revzin and Aaron Segel rolled through the Division I South Section as the No. 1 and 2 seeds respectively only to face each other in the title match on Sunday, May 20.

While it is a great accomplishment for any school to fill both spots in the final match, it did mean one athlete would not be moving on after Sunday's play. Revzin showed why he has been the Rockets' No. 1, taking down Segel 6-2 and 6-4.

On the doubles side, the Needham duo of Mitchell Silverman and Ben Okonow lived up to their top seeding, also rolling to the South Section final, where they defeated Sharon's top group, 6-4 and 6-3.

Revzin, Silverman and Okonow now advance to the State Individual Championships to be held on Saturday, June 16 at St. John's High School (Shrewsbury), with play to begin at 9 a.m.

With the regular season winding down, the boys team has run its win streak to 33 matches, as they stand at 11-0 this spring. They will wind up the regular season this week with home matches against Norwood, Medfield and Newton North, before traveling to St. John's High School (Shrewsbury) for the must anticipated match-up.  

Girls Lacrosse

After wins over Milton, Norwood and Framingham last week, the girls now stand at 18-1 with one game remaining (at Newton North on Monday, May 21). With three more victories, the girls move their win streak to 14 and remain as the top team in both the Globe and ESPN Boston polls.

• ESPN Boston Poll
• Boston Globe Poll

The NHS girls lacrosse players also keep building their credentials, as one senior and four underclassmen all earned high praise and recognition in the past week.

Waldstein Makes Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Team

The seventh annual Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic will take place on Saturday, June 30 at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, MD. Each year, only 88 of the nation’s top boys and girls high school seniors earn the sport’s most prestigious honor.  

This year's girls team will include a Needham Rocket for the first time, as senior tri-captain Tory Waldstein (Harvard commit) has been selected to participate in the prestigious game.

The senior All-Americans are selected by a panel of lacrosse experts at Inside Lacrosse Magazine. The year-long process includes input from college and high school coaches from across the country as well as nominations from the general public. Seniors can be nominated by anyone on the event’s website, underarmourlacrosse.com.

Earning the Under Armour All-America status as a senior in high school has traditionally been an indicator of future success at the collegiate level. The 2011 USILA All-America list consisted of 21 men’s Under Armour All-America alums. On the women’s side, 25 former UA All-Americans competed in the Division I national championship game between the University of Maryland and Northwestern.

Four Rockets to Play for LNE Team at National Tournament

The Women's Division National Tournament began in 1933 as a tournament to showcase the best post-collegiate and club women's lacrosse players. Since that time, it has grown into one of the largest women's lacrosse events in the nation. It is a true celebration of women's lacrosse and continues to represent the heartbeat of the game.

Tournament highlights include division championships, a U.S. Team exhibition, an annual high school all-star game and a premier recruiting opportunity for high school players.

2012 LNE (Lower New England) team members from Needham include Maddie Stenberg (Team 2), Catherine Conley and Molly Strakosch (Team 3) and Kira Oberle (Team 5).

Regular Seasons Wind Down

Boys volleyball will end their strong regular season on Monday night, May 21 at undefeated power Milford. Responsible for one of Needham's three losses on the season, Milford will look to keep their record spotless in the 7 p.m. matchup at home, while the Rockets will look to make a statement before tournament play gets started on Thursday, May 24.

Although baseball and softball will not move on to the postseason this spring, each team will celebrate their seniors this week, with baseball's Senior Night taking place Wednesday night, May 23 at 6 p.m. at , while softball's Senior Day will be held on Thursday, May 24 at 3:15 p.m. at .  

Girls tennis will finish with a busy week, playing at Norwood, Medfield and Newton North before hosting Weymouth on Thursday, May 24. The girls have only dropped one match on the season and will look to end strong to earn a high seed in next week's state tournament.

Check http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/athletics for Rocket Athletic news, updates, forms, links and complete team schedules.

Rockets Review is a weekly update distributed by email by Needham High School Director of Athletics Micah Hauben and published with permission on Needham Patch. Additional athletics information can be found on the NHS Athletic Department Web site.