A Victory to Savor: Colts Volleyball Snaps Losing Streak With Convincing Win Over Farmingdale

The Colts volleyball team had hit a rough patch in their schedule that saw them fall short against many high-quality opponents.

Despite the losses, the team continued to put in the hard work and effort that allowed them to remain competitive within those games and gain valuable experience from taking on top-notch teams.

The hard work finally paid off yesterday as the Colts snapped a five-game losing streak by taking three of four games against Farmingdale at Calhoun High School.

Alex Morra had 12 kills, and Brian Grambo added five aces for the Colts (2-8), who were all smiles after the game.

"This win felt really good," Grambo said. "We finally started to work together, and we had a lot of kills, blocks and aces in this game."

Morra delivered the first point of the game with a kill, and it was indicative of good to things to come for the Colts.

After a block by Tom Murnane and a kill by James Sciolto, the Colts led 14-12. Back-to-back aces by Adam Samuels expanded the lead to 20-17, and after another kill by Morra, the Colts took game one by a score of 25-19.

"I'm really happy that we pulled together," Samuels said. "It was a team effort."

The Colts continued to serve excellently in the second game, as aces by Andrew Schwab and Corey Sweeney gave the Colts an early 9-3 lead. Calhoun then won six points in a row behind server Jonathan Baldyga to build the lead to 14-7.  Phil Constantino registered a late kill for the Dalers, but it was for naught as the Colts won the game, 25-15.

The Colts lost their focus a little in game three, as they put in some of their back-up players in order to get everybody in the game. After a kill by Sean Garvey, Farmingdale held a 17-11 lead. The Colts battled back with six straight points with Sweeney serving to tie it, but after a kill by Kenny Butler and an ace by Joe Kennedy, Farmingdale went on to win 25-20.

"It was unfortunate to lose a game but I also had a lot of non-starters in the game who I want to gain some experience," Colts coach Heather Glick said. "All in all I think we did really well. The non-starters especially did well and they have definitely improved a lot. It's exciting to win."

With Grambo serving, the Colts jumped to an early 5-0 lead in game three. A particularly forceful kill by Morra and a block by Joseph Sanfilippo made it 18-13 in favor of Calhoun. Morra added another late kill, and the Colts took the game and the match off of an ace by Grambo, 25-16.

With the win, the Colts could finally stop talking about learning lessons from tough losses and just kick back and savor a sweet victory. 

"It feels great," Sweeney said. "We got all of our young players in and everyone contributed. We have a very good program for the future."

The Colts will look to make it two in a row when they travel to Herricks tomorrow for a 4:45 p.m. start.