Long Beach's underdog story ends in state final
Long Beach’s Franki Kelleher, center, goes up for the spike against Webster Schroeder in the NYSPHSAA Class AA girls volleyball championship on Sunday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, N.Y. Credit: Cindy Schultz
GLENS FALLS — Kerri Rehnback came to terms with her retirement a few weeks ago.
Any playoff loss could’ve been her last time coaching the Long Beach girls volleyball team. So when she walked onto the floor for the state Class AA final Sunday, she knew this was it — win or lose.
“I would go into games thinking, ‘This could be it, this could be it,’ ” Rehnback said. “And these girls didn’t want to let go. They wanted to make it last until the last minute possible for themselves, for me.”
Long Beach lost to Webster Schroeder, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-13) in the state final at Cool Insuring Arena. It ended Long Beach’s season as well as Rehnback’s 17-year tenure as coach.
Long Beach (8-11) wasn’t supposed to be here, if you ask Rehnback, Franki Kelleher, Hayley Lipinski and Zoe Moller. Rehnback wants this group to be remembered as the team that “defied odds and stayed together.”
“Nobody thought that Long Beach was going to come this far and be a state championship team,” Kelleher said. “Seriously, anybody can do it. What matters most is your relationship with your team and how you guys can play and support each other.”
That relationship was critical for Kelleher, a senior with three years of varsity experience. She not only bonded with her teammates but had a great connection with Rehnback.
Long Beach coach Kerri Rehnback, left, cheers on her team as they play against Webster Schroeder in the NYSPHSAA Class AA girls volleyball championship on Sunday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, N.Y. Credit: Cindy Schultz
“Rehnback has truly made me believe in myself from the start,” Kelleher said. “I’m always undersized, but she’s always made me feel like I was the 6-foot-5 middle out there. I’ve never really had the best rapport with any of my coaches, [but] I have the best relationship I’ve ever had with anybody with Rehnback. She’s my best friend.”
Rehnback and Long Beach won the state Class AA championship in 2018, but she said she almost is more proud of this year’s squad because they “weren’t supposed to be here.”
“We weren’t supposed to win,” she said. “We had four wins in the regular season, albeit we played in a power conference.
“But we had four wins, and to make it to this point — some teams don’t even smell this. They don’t even get near this.”
Rehnback figures by late August next year, the retirement will hit hard.
At that point, Lipinski will be entering her senior season looking to continue Long Beach’s success.
“It was huge for the team,” she said of the state final run. “[We’re] going to continue our volleyball journey, so hopefully we just come back better and ready to play. Just got to keep believing in the team.”
