Massapequa Girls Volleyball Derailed At LI Championships

One thing's certain: When two undefeated championship volleyball teams walk into a gymnasium to contend for a regional championship and the right to continue on to the state tournament, one of those teams is going to walk out again with their perfect season intact…and the other team disappointed.

The Chiefs girls volleyball squad filled the latter role Saturday against Suffolk champ Lindenhurst, their bid to represent Long Island upstate derailed in a hard-fought 3-1 contest at C.W. Post.

The loss came despite a valiant rally by the Chiefs who -- down 2-0 and facing elimination by a 17-11 score in the third game -- stormed back on a 14-2 run, and forced a game four against the Bulldogs that went out to a 26-24 score.

"This was an awesome match, this is what good competition is all about," Bulldogs coach Kellie Block said. "We've had to fight before, but this is a comeback team."

"The girls played phenomenal, but we just couldn't finish when we wanted to," Massapequa coach CarolAnn Habeeb-Kiel said. "Lindenhurst came across better defensively. It's tough when you finish the league 14-0. Sometimes you need the competition to see where you need to improve some things."

The Chiefs got all the competition they could handle from Lindenhurst, who fielded a hard-hitting offensive squad with plenty of firepower and any number of powerful hitters to turn to. Four hitters -- Elizabeth Gorman, Alyssa Marchino, Jenna Clemens  and sophomore Elly Clemens  led the way at the net, with Elly Clemens, Gorman and Ajsha Mekulovic combining for 8 blocks against a Chiefs squad that was tested to its fullest.

A sophomore also led the way for Massapequa, Lauren VanBuren (11 kills, 1 block), whose outside hitting from the left side often approached the unreturnable. Setter Kristen Marchisotto (24 assists) provided a solid core for the Chiefs' offense, which also so multiple kills from Samantha Berna (9 kills), Joanne Josephson (7 kills) and Heather Sweeney (6 kills).

While both teams played competitively and in championship style, it was Lindenhurst which seemed to be in control of the match through games one and two. The first one was close through 14-12, but then a nice service run for the Bulldogs' Elizabeth Gorman kicked off a 6-1 run and, at 20-14, Lindenhurst never looked back to take it 25-21.

Game two saw the Chiefs run out to a 9-4 lead as Lindenhurst lost a number of points on return errors, but the Suffolk champs jumped back into it. The game was fought to a standstill with 9 ties through 25-25, only to fall the Bulldog's way once again on a tough ball on the sideline that no one from Massapequa called for, and an Elizabeth Gorman block.

In game three, Massapequa fell behind a third time after tying it up at 9-9 and then letting the momentum slip from their hands. At 17-11, however, and with their backs to the wall, the Chiefs responded with the kind of grit reserved for really superior teams. Berna rattled off three service winners -- one on an ace, and two more on potent net work from Van Buren. That was followed by Sweeney, who contributed an ace of her own, and two more service wins, including the winning point on a dink from the net and a 25-20 game win for Pequa.

As for game four, it could only be called a slugfest, two heavyweight squads going toe to toe -- Massapequa to avoid elimination, and Lindenhurst for the Long Island championship crown.

The Chiefs went up on an early run, 5-2, but Lindenhurst relinquished the lead and let the score run up against them til they trailed 9-5. But Massapequa then pulled back into it, on strong net work from Josephson and Giaquinto -- with a block each -- and a patented Marchisotto to Berna set-kill combo that got things knotted at 9 apiece.

It was a knot that neither team could effectively undo, and the two championship teams battled things out to scores of 17-17, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20 and 22-22 before Pequa racked up two points to make it 24-22 on a Marchisotto-VanBuren combo.

But that's where it all came to an end for this year's Massapequa Chiefs.

A kill from Megan Pisciotta, followed by two kills in a row from the Bulldogs sophomore Emily Clemens, and it was the Lindenhurst team punching their ticket upstate, and Massapequa headed quietly out of the gym and into the hall.

"When we can get off this Island, we win it," said Habeeb-Kiel after the match. "The last time that happened was '07, we won it all. We just couldn't get off the Island this time."