Tyler Brandow drives Eastport-South Manor to Class B crown
The Eastport-South Manor Sharks' Tyler Brandow celebrates against the Roslyn Bulldogs in the Long Island Class B boys volleyball championship at Suffolk CC-Brentwood on Nov. 8, 2014. Credit: Andrew Theodorakis
Eastport-South Manor boys volleyball has played two matches at Suffolk CC-Brentwood this week, and came away with a championship victory both times.
Maybe it's the gym.
Then again, perhaps Tyler Brandow and the Sharks just play their best in the biggest moments. Two days after winning the Suffolk County championship here, the Sharks defeated Roslyn, 3-1, Saturday afternoon to win the Class B Long Island Championship.
ESM (11-6) won, 25-16, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18, and moves on to the state tournament Friday in Glens Falls. It is the team's first Long Island Championship since 2011. "There's something about this gym," middle hitter Brian Blekas said. "This gym got us so psyched each game. We just dominate out there. This gym is crazy."
Brandow, who had 23 kills, said the "energy" of the matches "just consumed me. It carried us."
"Coming into this match, we felt very confident," Sharks coach Bruce Stiriz said. "In fact, that was the speech I gave on the bus. My speech was about confidence and courage. They really showed that today."
Once again, Brandow led the way for the Sharks. "Ty is the guy that gets us pumped," Stiriz said. "He really put us on his back. He did that the other night and he did it today."
Blekas had four blocks and two kills, Josh Undari had 40 assists, Ryan Byrne 17 digs and Brennen Brandow, Tyler's younger brother, had 13 digs for the Sharks. Tom Ogeka added eight kills, and Kyle Allen-Morabito had seven kills. Stiriz also praised Delaney Vogt for his backcourt defense.
After winning the first set, Eastport-South Manor fell behind 23-21 in the second. Brandow got a kill to make it 23-22, and Byrne got an ace on two of his final three serves to give the Sharks a 25-23 win.
Behind the strong play of outside hitter Noah Nardone, Roslyn (14-7) took the third set, but could not force a fifth. Eastport-South Manor used a 7-1 run to take a 17-10 lead in the fourth, and at match point, Allen-Morabito got the winning kill.
"As soon as I made contact, I knew it was going down," Allen-Morabito said. "I was so pumped up."
That point clinched a trip to states for the Sharks, who have not lost their prematch confidence.
"We're going to win. There's no doubt in my mind," Brandow said.
It is an attitude that has driven ESM's success, no matter what gym they play in.
