Wantagh Girls Volleyball Captures Long Island Title

There comes a time in most every undefeated team's season that they have to look the prospect of defeat squarely in the eyes, and not blink -- just play your game, and hope that things go your way.

That's what happened to the two heavyweight girls volleyball teams in the region Saturday, as the 14-0 Nassau County Conference A champions took on 20-0 Bellport, Suffolk County Conference A champs, in a do or die Long Island championship contest at CW Post that had the large and enthusiastic stands going wild.

In a courageous knock-down drag-out match that went down to the very last point of the very last game, the Wantagh Warriors prevailed against a great Bellport girls volleyball squad, winning the best of five match three games to two. Wantagh (15-0) now takes its undefeated run to the state tournament in Glens Falls on Saturday.

Games one and two were tight affairs, two championship teams trading punches with abandon. Games three and four by contrast were blowouts.

As for game five, it was a tight affair until Nicole Simeone and Christine Bush ran off a quick string of service winners -- and it only remained for Simeone and Pennino to get their last licks in at the net, for the 25-22 win.

In winning the match, the Lady Warriors had found an answer to the dominating Samantha Parente of Bellport, whose impact on the front line is a game changer. "We knew what we were up against," said Kelly. We practiced digging and digging. We knew."

"She was intimidating," added Pennino. "I had to stay strong in my head."

Not that Bellport is a one-horse team. Hannah O'Neill and Paige Carpluk -- not to mention Stephanie's little sister Kacy -- are serious hitters. But when it comes to playing big, Parente has an ability -- when healthy -- to cannon spikes or dink the ball into the corner when double-teamed at the line by blockers.

Of course everyone in Nassau County who follows such matters can tell you that Wantagh plays second fiddle to no team when it comes to skills on the court. Nicole Simeone, for example, had five aces on the day, and was generally dominating from the service line. "I just block out everything and take a million deep breaths before I serve," said Simeone. "They can call a time out if they want, that works against some people, but not for me -- I stay focused."

Then there's libero Carissa Gagliardi, whose job it was to turn seemingly impossible Parente cannon shots into back court returns. "It's a lot of court to cover, but I wear the white shirt, so it's my job," said Gagliardi

Then there's the fact that Wantagh's offense was without let up. While Bellport's game dropped off significantly during Parente's absences, there was no drop off for the Lady Warriors.

Leading the way offensively for the Lady Warriors was Jennie Ilibassi, with an incredible 25 kills from the outside. "If it's needed to win, I can jump all day," said Jennie Ilibassi.

Jenna Greenberg chipped in eight kills of her own, and Lauren Pennino and Nicole Simeone had five each -- and Christina Bush and Nicole Kelly led the way in setting the front line finishers, with 17 and 11 apiece on the day.

In the end, it was enough the punch the Lady Chief's upstate ticket -- and send a tearful Bellport squad back to Suffolk County.

"We knew going in we needed to want it bad. We needed to know how much it mattered," said Kelly after the game. "We did, and we won. This feels awesome."