Harvey School Celebrates Homecoming in Katonah

From the Harvey School

Harvey celebrated its homecoming, Saturday, Sept. 20, with a full slate of varsity games. While school spirit ruled the day, only Harvey’s volleyball teams enjoyed the taste of victory. The football team came within inches of winning while both the boys and girls soccer teams were bested by the visiting teams.

Harvey Wins Marathon Match in Volleyball

Harvey’s varsity volleyball team battled back from a 2-1 deficit in games and defeated visiting Forman School in a fifth and deciding game to win the match.

Harvey won the first game 25-19, but Forman won the second and third games by identical 25-17 scores. Harvey tied it with a dominating performance in the fourth game, 25-11 before winning the tiebreaker, 15-9.

Harvey coach Dave Ketner said it was a battle for both teams. “It was a well played five-game match with both teams giving everything they had,” said the coach.

Coach Ketner said winning on Homecoming Day was special. “The victory was our first win of the season and could not have come at a better time.”

The setters performed well. Emily Sirota had two assists and three kills, Selma Tabacovic had three assists and four aces and Tessa Knorr chipped in with two assists.

Middle hitting contributions came from Ariana Weaver who had three kills, three aces and four blocks and Anna Ketner who had three kills, four aces and three blocks. Carly Kaplan collected three digs while Lindsay Cardaci had an ace. Both Claudia Smith and Danni Qu came up with a dig and Rebecca Tuteur had an ace. “The win was truly a team effort with contributions from everyone,” said the coach.

Meanwhile, the JV volleyball team continued its winning ways with a great 2-1 league victory over the Forman School in an exciting Homecoming match. Forman started the first game strongly with some dominant serving that took Harvey by surprise, winning the first game 25-16.

The Cavaliers rallied in the second game and won 25-18 behind the strong play and leadership of captains Gemma Tebbutt and Emily Walsh. The teams were evenly matched for the final and deciding game, with Harvey having a slight advantage of momentum from winning the second game. Forman took an initial lead, but strong serving from Jordan Carnan-Raimey and Yulanda Huang pulled Harvey back to a 15-15 tie. Hannah Paul capped the victory for Harvey with two strong serves, giving the Cavaliers a 17-15 win.

Harvey Football Team Falls Short on Homecoming Day

Harvey gave the large crowd a thrill Saturday on Homecoming Day against Dwight Englewood School when quarterback Tom Smith and wide receiver Michael DePass hooked up for a 20-yeard touchdown pass with under a minute left in the game bringing the Cavaliers within one point of tying the game. The excitement quickly turned to disappointment, however, when Harvey opted to go for the win and failed to make the two-point conversion, giving Dwight Englewood a 21-20 victory.

There was plenty of action early, but it was all Dwight Englewood in the first four minutes of the game as the visiting team took the opening kickoff and marched down the field for an early 7 - 0 lead. Harvey then made two mistakes on its first possession leading to another DE touchdown and a 14 - 0 deficit. Then Harvey took the game over as the offensive and defensive lines pushed DE all over the field, holding them to 25 yards on the ground and sacking their quarterback eight times. Four Harvey fumbles, however, prevented the Cavaliers from scoring any points.

On the first play from scrimmage to start the second half, Smith hit DePass on a 55-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to eight. Early in the fourth quarter DE took advantage of a mix-up in the Harvey secondary and scored on a 45-yard TD pass seemingly putting the game out of reach at 21 - 6. But Harvey struck right back with Smith and DePass hooking up on an 80-yard touchdown pass. After stuffing DE and forcing a punt, Smith and DePass connected a third time for the TD that made the score 21 - 20. With 47 seconds left Harvey went for the win instead of a tie with a two-point conversion attempt that was stopped by the DE defense a few yards from the goal line.

Smith completed six passes for 214 yards and three TDs. Coach Rob Griffin said, “Smith called a terrific game and never allowed the offense to lose focus.” Senior Ricky Hicks and sophomore Teddy Little rushed for 62 yards combined and DePass caught five balls for 200 yards and three TDs.

The defense was led by senior captain Jared Finkel who made nine tackles, recorded two sacks and forced a fumble. Junior captain Javen Stepp-Davis had seven tackles and one sack. Little made eight tackles and collected three sacks while junior Joe O’ Connell with five tackles and one sack and senior Chauncey Dewey with five tackles also made solid contributions on defense.

Harvey Girls Soccer Suffers Loss

Harvey’s girls soccer team opened up the season Saturday, Sept. 20, with a disappointing 8-2 Homecoming Day loss to visiting Forman.

Forman is expected to be a top team in the Housatonic Valley Athletic League (HVAL) this season, but Harvey gave a good showing against the talented squad from Litchfield, Conn.

“I thought the game was played much closer than the final score showed,” said Harvey coach Greg Janos. “Our girls kept the Lions from Forman on their toes with a very physical style of play and matched their pace step by step. Something that Forman isn’t used to.”

The Lady Cavaliers kept Forman’s goaltender busy, but a few broken plays and a lack of communication allowed Forman’s players to capitalize on their chances and get way with a victory. “We put up a fight that they weren’t ready for,” said Coach Janos. “If a few of those bounces went our way, it would have been completely different game.”

Forward Ava Gurman and midfielder Angelique Santiago each netted a goal for the Cavaliers. Julia Frisch and Hannah Morris showed their versatility in numerous positions as each played a full game. Coach Janos singled out Jasmine Brouwer and Sydney Best for their solid play on defense.

The homecoming game was the first of three straight games on Harvey’s home field. Coach Janos believes the team will improve in the weeks ahead. “If we continue to build on our talent, this year’s team will be unstoppable.” He added, “Even though I’m not pleased with the outcome, I’m satisfied with the effort put forth by this group of young women.”

The boys team, with several key starters sidelined with injuries, lost 6-0 to Forman.