Massapequa rebounds after dropping set to capture fourth straight Nassau 'AA' girls volleyball title
Massapequa wins the Nassau Class AA girls volleyball final at SUNY Farmingdale on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Massapequa girls volleyball team found itself in unfamiliar territory – huddling after dropping a set for just the second time this season.
Massapequa lost the third set in Monday's county final and the players knew they could, and needed to do better.
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The Massapequa girls volleyball team found itself in unfamiliar territory – huddling after dropping a set for just the second time this season.
Massapequa lost the third set in Monday's county final and the players knew they could, and needed to do better.
“I always tell them that you can’t underestimate a team,” coach Amanda DelGiacco said. “You can’t just assume you are going to win in three [sets] because that’s what you normally do. They have to earn every set they play, and they didn’t earn that one.”
Top-seeded Massapequa was determined to return to its winning ways, and didn’t want the match to reach a fifth set. It scored the first five points in the fourth set and 11 of the first 14 to defeat No. 3 Syosset, 25-19, 25-17, 24-26, 25-17, in the Nassau Class AA girls volleyball final at Farmingdale State College.
“Dropping a set just meant we had to come back stronger,” said Olivia Harris, who had eight kills. “And we showed that in the fourth set.”
Massapequa (17-0) advances to play Commack in the Long Island Class AA championship/Southeast Regional Final Thursday at 5 p.m. at Hauppauge High School. Syosset finishes 11-6.
Massapequa spoke in the huddle after dropping the third set about the importance of finishing the match strong.
“They knew they had to come out and push from the beginning to the end,” DelGiacco said. “And that’s definitely what we proved in that last set.”
Erin Stanley had 11 kills, Shea Ringel added 10 kills and four aces and Allison Petrullo had 32 assists.
DelGiacco mentioned that having a multitude of options to finish points can be a separator for Massapequa.
“It’s awesome and it’s really not seen at the high school level,” she said. “There’s usually one or two big hitters and that’s it. We have five, six hitters we can constantly rely on, and that’s what makes us so good.”
Harris had kills on the final two points of the second set, both were assisted by Petrullo.
The feeling of slamming home a winning point in a county final, is like nothing else for Harris.
“Those plays why I love the game,” she said. “It’s such a rush.”
“We all wanted this,” Petrullo said. “Just to be able to set [Harris] and see it going down, it’s amazing.”
Massapequa won its fourth straight Nassau Class AA title and has won the last two Long Island Class AA championships. It fell in the state final last season and hopes to win its first state crown since 2007.
“We have unfinished business at states,” Harris said. “And we are planning on getting back there.”