Rankel leads Plainview JFK to volleyball win
Port Washington High School sophomore #20 Jongho Byun, left, and senior #15 Daniel Chu defend against the spike attempt of Plainview JFK senior #14 Greg Rankel. (Sept. 23, 2010) Credit: James Escher
It was only six points into the first game, but Plainview JFK's Greg Rankel had already taken over.
He had made emphatic blocks with leads of 3-2 and 4-2 on opposite ends of the court, each one followed by primal screams of joy. The rest of the team followed Rankel's lead Thursday, when JFK (3-0) went to Paul D. Schreiber High School and defeated Port Washington (2-1) in a Conference I volleyball match, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19.
Rankel would finish with 10 kills and four blocks, and those first two established the tone.
"Those were two good blocks that got our team going," Rankel said. "Everyone else started to pick things up after that. Once we got things going, it was too much."
JFK would charge out to big leads in each of the first two games. The Hawks held a 17-9 cushion in the first and scored six consecutive points in the second game to lead 7-1. Port Washington never found an answer for Rankel in the middle or for senior outside hitter Ben Strack, who added 10 kills and four aces.
JFK's early domination in the first two games proved to be too much for Port.
"When one team starts off strong, they pretty much get everything together," JFK coach Russi Villalta said.
JFK, however, would fall behind 7-3 in the third. It took the lead at 8-7 and would clinch the match on kills by Rankel and Strack.
With a senior-laden squad getting contributions from first-year varsity players such as Strack, JFK has the swagger of a top-tier team.
When asked about their expectations for yesterday's match, Rankel did not hesitate.
"We expected to sweep them and get out of here," he said. "That is what we expect to do with every team."
Port Washington learned that in order to upend teams as talented as JFK, performances like yesterday's won't get the job done.
"Our expectations were way too high," Port Washington senior Michael Murphy said. "We thought we would just walk into the gym and win just because we showed up. We have to play it out. It's just not enough to say we're going to win."
Rankel made sure those expectations were curbed very quickly.
"It was the punch in the face that we needed," Murphy said.
