Sports
Seaford Girls Volleyball Claims Class B Title Over Floral Park
The top-seeded and undefeated Lady Vikings swept third-seeded Floral Park en route to a county championship at SUNY-Old Westbury.
The Seaford girls volleyball team found another way to win on Thursday afternoon to move to a perfect 16-0 on the season. The teams’ latest win was by far the biggest thus far as the top-seeded Lady Vikings defeated third-seeded Floral Park for the Nassau County Class B title.
Seaford swept Floral Park for the third time this season, with this win giving the team its first county title since 2008. The Lady Vikings made quick work of the Knights, winning by set set scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-20.
“They were a little nervous in the beginning, but we came around to win it,” said Seaford girls volleyball head coach Marie Savage. “Our team is a very diverse group led by our seniors like Meaghan [Curley], who is that person and leader that when she is on the court, if the ball is not gotten to her, she will get there. She is just one of those kids.”
The senior co-captain Curley, who was the lone player to never step foot off of the court in the three games, led the team with 14 assists. Junior Megan Russell had seven kills and sophomore Jessica Rini added seven kills and five blocks in the win.
“We have some young girls that stepped up, and they are very proud of their accomplishments when they do it,” added Savage.
Seaford starting out quick, taking a 13-5 lead, but Floral Park responded with three consecutive points only until Russell collected her first kill of the match. A mix of service errors by Floral Park and stellar net play by Rini helped the Lady Vikings pull out to a 1-0 set lead after Rini also spiked the final point just inside of the back corner.
Floral Park jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but unforced errors in the frame (11 in total) was the ultimate difference. Russell blocked three straight Floral Park attempts at the net to help her team to an eventual 8-6 lead. After the Knights battled back to 18-14, Russell and Curley found the spaces in the defense to push the team to a 25-18 win and a two-set advantage.
For the second set in a row, Floral Park took an early 4-1 lead in an attempt to spark a comeback. However, Seaford proved that it is not how you start the set, but how you are able to finish them off. Seaford won the decisive frame, 25-20, to take hold of the county championship and move on to the Long Island title match this weekend.
“This was my goal from freshman year when I was pulled up,” said Curley. “Anytime they have mistakes, we have to capitalize on them. Our defense definitely led us today. We are going to just play how we play when we move on.”
Seaford is led by an experienced group of seniors, five in total, and promising underclassmen that will serve as a foundation to what the school hopes will lead to multiple championships in the future.
Seaford will try for a Long Island title against Suffolk County Class B champion John Glenn Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue.
