Calhoun Boys Volleyball Drops to Great Neck to Close Out Season

It has been an uphill climb for the Calhoun boys volleyball team from back in September when they faced off against Uniondale.

The Colts, playing as the 10th seed in the Class A playoff bracket, matched up against the seventh-seeded Rebels of Great Neck South on the road on Thursday.

Despite a valiant effort in a tough first round match, the Colts (6-8) fell in straight sets to the Rebels (9-4) to close out their 2010 fall season: 25-20, 25-21, and 25-20.

"We picked our game up this time around against Great Neck compared to the first match against them, but it certainly was not enough," Calhoun head coach Heather Glick said.

Calhoun was able to jump out to an early lead in the first set, but fell behind to give the home team the early lead. In the second set, it seemed as if the Colts were on their way to tie up the score at 1-1 following a six straight points to take a 14-10 lead.

However, mistakes and unforced errors diminished the lead and eventually paved the way for Great Neck to take their own commanding lead. Calhoun fell behind again in the third and deciding set, and despite a late rally, the deficit was too much to overcome as Great Neck picked up their seventh sweep of the season.

"It was some good team play for our guys," Great Neck head coach Tom Gaines said. "Everybody was involved."

Junior Jon Davis and sophomore Mitchell Finkel played tough at the net for the Rebels. Great Neck will face a tall task in going on the road to play second-seeded Plainview JFK (11-1) in the quarterfinals.

"We have to play our best game against them," Gaines said. "We can't make mistakes, and the only way we can be competitive is by doing that."

Calhoun struggled at the end of the season with tough losses to Long Beach, Herricks, and Jericho. They tried to search for answers on Thursday against Great Neck, but some bad breaks inevitably closed out the Colts' 2010 campaign.

"Our defense was not in the right position and our setting was not as strong as it should be," Glick said. "We were playing too relaxed. I feel like we need more fire and more heart, regardless of how good we are. We needed to fight for points, too."

Junior Corey Sweeney had four kills and two blocks. Sophomore Andrew Schwab added four kills and senior Jacob Greenberg had three kills and a block of his own.

"We had a good season. It was rough at times, but overall, we had fun and enjoyed playing," Greenberg said. "If there was a bad call or if we hit out, we got caught up in how we can fix it as opposed to just doing it and we can't do that. We needed to just move on."

Calhoun will graduate four seniors in Greenberg, Jonathan Baldyga, Kris Laquera, and Joseph Sanfilippo. With Greenberg graduating, the Colts will hope to depend on the leadership of Jospeh Hernandez, Corey Sweeney, Dylan Darnaud in 2011 to improve even further.

"The type of thing I'm looking for is the leadership at the end. I will definitely be looking for that," Glick said. "I want to train that. If it is a close game, somebody needs to step it up in the end. Unfortunately, today nobody did and it slipped through our fingers."

Despite the early playoff exit, this team has gained valuable experience to build upon for seasons to come. The playoff berth and the six wins are accomplishments in their own in for the Calhoun Colts in what was a highly competitive Conference II in 2010.