Kings Park girls extend their volleyball reign in Suffolk
Kings Park players celebrate their win over Westhampton in the Suffolk Class A girls volleyball final at SCCC-Brentwood on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
When the Kings Park girls volleyball team takes the court for warmups, the same song blasts over the loudspeakers each time.
Nelly’s 2001 single “Here Comes the Boom” has become a fixture on the soundtrack for the Kingsmen. And how fitting it is.
“That just pumps us up,” said senior Lexi Petraitis. “Every time it says, ‘Boom,’ you just want to shatter a ball into the ground.”
Petraitis did just that, collecting 10 kills as top-seeded Kings Park defeated second-seeded Westhampton, 25-12, 25-23, 25-15, in the Suffolk Class A championship on Thursday at SCCC-Brentwood.
Kings Park has won seven consecutive county titles and will play Nassau champion South Side in the Long Island championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. at SCCC-Brentwood.
“I’m so proud that I’m part of such a good tradition and such an amazing team,” Petraitis said.
Kings Park cruised through the first set, but Westhampton’s Shannon Hewlett was electric in keeping Westhampton close in the second set. The Hurricanes led 23-21 before a Kingsmen timeout resulted in four straight points to clinch the set for Kings Park (19-0).
Erika Benson (12 kills, three blocks), Sam Schultz (eight kills) and Kara Haase (seven) were steady weapons for setter Haley Holmes (40 assists). When Westhampton threatened with Hewlett and Smiltene Jankunaite, Kings Park’s Meagan Murphy (33 digs) was there for support.
They put forth a complete effort in the third set, jumping out to a 9-0 lead that proved enough to outlast Westhampton (18-3).
It all stems from that energetic warmup.
“It was the song that the girls before us picked,” Benson said. “They always played it, so we just keep it going. It hypes us up for everything the teams before us have accomplished.”
They use it to set the tone. They use it to bring the boom.
