Connetquot rallies past Bay Shore to Suffolk Div. I boys volleyball title
Connetquot celebrates its win in the Suffolk boys volleyball Division I final between Bay Shore and Connetquot on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2022 at Newfield High School. Credit: Bob Sorensen
They’d already rallied from two sets down earlier in Wednesday nights Suffolk Division I boys volleyball championship match, so what was another big comeback?
No. 2 Connetquot erased a four point deficit in the final set, and saved four match points in the process, as the Thunderbirds defeated No. 5 Bay Shore, 20-25, 25-27, 25-13, 25-21, 16-14, to capture the title at Newfield.
“This feeling is anything I could ever dream of,” senior outside hitter Erick Duignan said. “It’s the first time in program history that we’ve won a county championship.
“We got reverse swept by top-seed Ward Melville in the last game of the regular season and it was emotional for us,” Duignan said. “To be able to come out and do that against another team, in this spot, is just amazing. I can’t describe it.”
Connetquot (13-4) will play the Nassau champion Wednesday, November 10 at Farmingdale State College at 7. The opponent will be decided next week.
“We just went for our offense and made sure we were still swinging,” coach Jess Perry said. “We just tried to do the best that we could.”
Even after Bay Shore jumped ahead in the final set junior outside hitter Alex Lillie never lacked in confidence at any point in the match and his team kept its composure behind him.
“There was never any doubt with us,’ Lillie said. “We can come back from anything. We always start slow but are able to get out of it most times as well. It’s a great feeling.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
