BROOKLINE – Before the two powerhouses met Thursday night, first-year Brookline boys volleyball head coach Lexi De La Cruz made sure to fully grasp what its matchup against Needham meant to his guys even beyond a rematch of last year’s Div. 1 state quarterfinal loss.

For the first time in 14 years, the No. 1 Warriors (5-0) beat the No. 3 Rockets, doing so in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) to further establish themselves as a force in the state title race. Kristaps Vaivars (16 kills) and Alec Smagula (30 assists, two kills) anchored an otherwise well-rounded performance, helping Brookline rally in the first two sets before a 12-4 run in the third sealed it.

With Natick topping Newton North elsewhere, Brookline is the last undefeated team among the Bay State Conference’s power-four – which stands early on as the four leading candidates to go the distance.

But before getting ahead of themselves, this one over Needham (4-2) was big for the Warriors – who were 0-8 against it over the previous three years.

“I think we had this date marked on our schedule since the beginning of the season,” De La Cruz said. “It’s been 14 years, also Needham has dominated high school volleyball. So not to just win, but to win it in three sets, I think it means a lot for me and for them. … I knew since day one that they have the potential to beat every team in three sets, and I think they proved that today.”

“The past couple years, we faced Needham a lot,” Vaivars added. “They beat us every time so far. Last year and the year before, we’ve come close. But to finally beat them, in our gym, 3-0, feels amazing.”

Side-outs came aplenty in this matchup of Div. 1 titans, and Brookline found itself in a mental resilience test down 13-10 in the first set and 14-9 in the second.

The Warriors passed.

In the first, middles Liam Raybould (four kills, four blocks) and Luka Gallucci (two blocks) excelled at the net to help spark a 6-0 run to take the lead before closing the frame by winning eight of the last 11 points. The Warriors didn’t waver against an even bigger hole in the second, as Smagula connected with Vaivars, Amir Tomer (six kills, three aces, block) and Kais Al-Fakhuri (four kills, two blocks) to rally to a 17-17 tie.

Brookline’s Amir Timer celebrates winning the second game during an impressive 3-0 win over Needham on Thursday. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

Needham and Brookline traded points for a bit from there, but Tomer and Gallucci fueled a 4-1 run to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-21 win.

“Our energy was great, we were focused the whole time,” Vaivars said. “Even when we were down for a while in the second set, we just pushed through and stayed locked in the whole time. Our bench and our fans definitely helped a lot.”

Vaivars and Smagula led the stat sheet, but strong serving, high energy and Brookline’s depth proved the biggest X-factors.

Andrew Kurdziel (four kills, two blocks) and Jeremy Bullard-Smith (two kills, block) are forces in the middle for Needham, but Raybould, Gallucci and Al-Fakhuri limited all of the Rockets’ hitters over long stretches with strong play at the net.

“Our main goal was to make sure that we had a big presence in the middle, not just offensively, but blocking-wise,” De La Cruz added. “Our middles had to step up in the blocking game and I think they played their role perfectly. … Also, I want to shout out (Al-Fakhuri), he showed up today and played right-side because our right-side was sick.”

Libero Andrew Bacon also played a big role in the win for Brookline. Ben Vu and Matt Cloonan led Needham’s attack with six kills each.