Sports
Wantagh Girls Volleyball Posts Four-Set Win Over Neighborhood Rival
Paulik, Ilibassi and Pennino combine for 28 kills at the net in win over Bellmore-Kennedy.
There’s an old truism in sports that even when a good team’s not playing well, they find a way to win.
The Wantagh girls volleyball team knows the truth of that old maxim a little better after Tuesday afternoon's four game home win against Bellmore-Kennedy, the same school the Lady Warriors have defeated for Nassau County titles the last two years.
The Lady Warriors, loaded with talent and the confidence of being a team that went to the states in 2010, came out blazing and hung on to win against the team they beat for the Nassau County Championship, the Kennedy Lady Cougars, by scores of 25-7, 25-27, 25-20 and 25-22.
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“I felt like we came out on fire but then we sat back and watched the game,” said Wanrtagh girls volleyball head coach Kate McKeefrey. “We weren’t happy with how we played. But somehow we just kept it together, kept talking to each other and won.”
“It was a tough match,” said Kennedy head coach Allen Ma. “We’re still young, and at times we can be sloppy. We had the lead in game four and gave it away. But we fought back hard.”
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In fact, the Lady Cougars looked like they’d just stepped off a plane from the West Coast in game one, giving up points on unforced errors as an emotionally-charged Wantagh team took control.
Game two was altogether different however, with Kennedy playing at a level one might expect from a girls volleyball program that has produced champions in the past. In all, there were 13 ties in the second game before the Lady Warriors pulled away on quick hands and decisive finish from Heather Hulkower.
In game three, the talented Lady Warriors showed what their 2010 Long Island championship consisted of, roaring back from a 4-1 deficit on strong hitting at the net from Jenny Ilibassi, Anna Paulik and Lauren Pennino. Kennedy made a run to get it to with three, at 21-18, but a push from Shannon Kerley at the net followed by a shattering kill in the middle for Pennino gave Wantagh the 2-1 advantage.
Though JFK-Kennedy was able to keep things close in game four -- actually taking the lead at 22-20, the Lady Warriors pulled back even and then went up 24-22 on a big kill from Paulik, before sealing the match win on the next volley.
Leading the way for the Warriors was Ilibassi, with 12 kills, followed by Pennino (9 kills) and Paulik (7 kills). Loretta O’Brien had six blocks on the day, and Christina Ellul contributed with 11 digs. Setter Carly Simeone has 28 assists over the course of four games.
The closely contested win had Coach McKeffrey thinking through how the 2011 season is unfolding so far, and what the prospects are for the fall. “Having gone to the states, everyone is out to kill us,” she said. “It’s nothing like last year. We’d like to get back to the states, but to do that, we have to put our best effort in every match.”
Wantagh travels to Long Beach for its next conference matchup this Monday at 5 p.m.
