Massapequa loses to Fairport in Class AAA state volleyball final
Massapequa’s Jolie Kanceler bumps the ball as against Fairport in the NYSPHSAA Class AAA girls volleyball championship on Sunday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, N.Y. Credit: Cindy Schultz
GLENS FALLS — After a comeback victory in the semifinals a day ago, Massapequa couldn't find the same magic to pull out another win.
Fairport (Section V) defeated Massapequa, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-21), in the state Class AAA final on Sunday morning at Cool Insuring Arena.
“We came here, fought hard and picked up a win on the first day,” senior Carly Elfenbein said. “We were confident and prepared as much as we could. It was just a special experience to be here with my team.”
Massapequa held a 6-2 lead in the first set, after Elfenbein picked up a kill and a block. Fairport scored nine of the next 13 points to take an 11-10 lead and cruised to a first set victory.
After Massapequa picked up the first point of set two, Fairport scored the next two and wouldn’t trail for the remainder of the set.
“I don’t think anything went wrong,” coach Amanda Del Giacco said. “We tried our best to slow them down and give them a good match, but they were better.”
Jolie Kanceler and Shea Ringel had back-to-back kills in the third set to make the score 17-16 in favor of Fairport, but that was as close as Massapequa would be for the remainder of the set.
“Our mindset is to believe and never give up, that worked for us last game,” Elfenbein said. “At the end of the day it didn’t happen for us here, but we left everything out on the court and that’s all you can do.”
Elfenbein finished with seven kills and three blocks. Kanceler had eight kills and Ringel had 12. Allison Petrullo had 26 assists.
“This year more than ever it was really a group effort to get here,” Del Giacco said. Some games it’s Carly, some it’s Shea and some it’s Jolie, but the reason we got here is because we work together.”
Massapequa (15-4) started their season with a loss, their first to a Nassau opponent since 2018. This season they suffered more losses during the regular season (3) than they had in total for the past four seasons (2). Even as the team looked vulnerable, it won a fifth straight county title and pulled together to make it further this season than it did a year ago.
“We started off with a losing record for the first time since I’ve been here and that was a bit of a wake-up call for us,” Del Giacco said. “I couldn’t be prouder of this group for everything they did and how they pushed each other.”
“We had an amazing season on and off the court,” Elfenbein said. “We bonded a lot and got better, it was so much fun to play my senior year with this group."
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
