Rigo, Glenn girls volleyball thrive in the moment
Glenn's Melissa Rigo (1) with the uncontested kill during the match. (Oct. 12, 2010) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
The blue banners adorn the Glenn High School gymnasium. In large-type white lettering, they read things like "Undefeated County Champs" and "New York State Champs."
They serve as not-so-subtle reminders as to the staggering success of the girls volleyball program in the past 15 years.
"We don't brag about our accomplishments," junior Melissa Rigo said. "In the end, it's about how hard you work and how much better your team has gotten throughout a season."
And after nine consecutive Class B or C Suffolk titles, four state titles in a five-year span and an unbeaten league record for more than a decade, it came as little surprise when Glenn extended their 10-year unbeaten run Tuesday. They defeated visiting Mattituck, 25-5, 25-4, 25-11, in a League VII match.
Kevin Harrington, who has been the coach since 1992, says he had no thoughts about building a "small school" dynasty. "I'm a chemistry teacher," Harrington said. "I wasn't thinking about plans for state domination or anything silly like that."
And this stoic, almost too-humble-to-be-true attitude, has been the norm during his tenure. The records, county titles and winning streaks are a foreign language to this year's team.
"We don't think of statistics when we have a game," senior Alexa Zbytniewski said.
The program's success reached then-unprecedented heights in 1998, when the Spiders beat Sachem to win the Suffolk overall title. By Harrington's estimation, Sachem's enrollment outnumbered Glenn roughly 8-to-1 at the time. Through the years, as the wins mounted and county championships were separated by enrollment size, their "little guy" personality eroded.
The 2010 Glenn team says it refuses to use the small school label as a crutch. The Spiders are content to rack up victories and hopefully win their first state 'B' title in three years.
"When you work as hard as we do, there are no limitations," Zbytniewski said.
This year's limitations have not yet emerged, as Glenn's unbeaten mark has them favored to win another Long Island title. Harrington, ever the realist, is relishing this run of success.
"Nothing lasts forever," Harrington said. "Eventually, it's going to end."
But the girls of Glenn play for the present. For now, they just want to add more blue banners to that already packed wall.
