Massapequa girls volleyball dominates to win Long Island Class AA title
Massapequa celebrates their win over Smithtown West during the Class AA Long Island High School girls volleyball finals at LIU Post College on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 in Brookville. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Just call it the Massapequa girls volleyball show.
The team has dropped only one set all season en route to winning the Long Island Class AA championship on Saturday night.
Massapequa defeated Smithtown West, 25-17, 25-13, 25-13, at LIU Post to claim their second title.
What’s the secret to their success?
"Our coach preaches discipline to our team every single day," Alessandra Heimbauer said. "We took care of one point at a time all season long."
However, the Massapequa coach Amanda Ostapow does not really focus on how many sets the team drops throughout the season. She believes the squad’s success is the cultivation of repetition and getting better every day.
"People harp on the fact that we only dropped one set, but we don’t focus on that," Ostapow said. "We look at building the program and executing our plans."
Massapequa (20-0) started the match with aggression from the front line and integrated finesse to keep Smithtown West (18-2) guessing.
"We see the court well and anticipate our opponents early, which gives us an edge," said Heimbauer, who had an 13 kills. "We had an answer for every play."
Another key contributor to the performance was Megan Kirtyan, who said the team’s mindset in their undefeated season was "all gas, no breaks" because the squad doesn’t like to "give out opportunities."
Emily Keaveney and Emma Reilly had strong showings in the straight-set victory adding four kills each.
The victory gives Massapequa a spot in the Class A state tournament in Glen Falls, which will start next Saturday.
The squad won their lone state tournament back in 2007, and they believe now more than ever that it’s time to shine again.
"We can 100% win states," Heimbauer said. "Especially if we bring the same energy as tonight, we will be unstoppable."
Ostapow also feels that the performance was proof that the squad is ready to take on the next challenge.
"We practice hard every single day and we proved ourselves out here," she said. "We are headed to Glen Falls and look forward to seeing what the competition is all about out here."
