MIAA Spring Volleyball State Championships: Brookline Ends Long Title Drought, Agawam Gets Back On Top

The 2025 MIAA Spring Volleyball Championships were played on June 12-13, with Shrewsbury High School and Xaverian Brothers High School serving as hosts.

In the end, one school ended a long championship drought lasting decades, while the other returned to the winner's circle for the second time in three years.

Here is a look at the action:

Division 1

Brookline High School ended a long championship drought for the school, and at the same time continued the dominance of the Bay State Conference in Division 1 Spring Volleyball.

Despite dropping the first set of the championship match at Xaverian Brothers High School, the top-seeded Warriors were able to regroup and finish off a 3-1 victory over Needham High School for Brookline’s first volleyball championship since 1992.

The second set was the big turning point. Already down 1-0 in the match, Brookline needed to grind out a 27-25 victory to get back on equal footing. The third set also was a tough battle, but the Warriors ultimately prevailed, 25-22 before finishing off the match and the championship with a 25-15 win.

Senior Kris Vaivars had 27 kills for Brookline, his final one clinching the victory. Junior Alec Smagula added 49 assists as the Warriors used a balanced offensive approach to bring the championship trophy back home for the first time in more than three decades.

Matt Cloonan had 14 kills and Will Rozman 12 kills for No. 3 seed Needham, which fell short in the title match for the second time in as many years after winning three straight from 2021-2023.

Division 2

After battling through a pair of tough sets to begin the match, No. 1 seed Agawam High School took control and pulled out a 3-1 victory over defending champion Wayland High School at Shrewsbury High.

The championship with the second for the Brownies in three years, and third overall.

Senior Joe Culhane had 15 kills and 16 digs to lead Agawam, which won the final two sets by 25-13 and 25-16 margins to close out the match. Junior Tim Karcha (16 kills), senior Dennis Nesen (11 kills) and senior David Dzhenzherukha (43 assists) also played key roles in the Brownies’ victory.

Agawam got off to a good start with a 25-22 win in the first set, but the tone was set for a tight match and No. 3 seed Wayland was able to pull even with a 25-23 victory in the second set.

Wayland, which beat Westfield in the 2024 title match, was led by junior Finn Bell’s 21 kills and 3 aces.