Colts Volleyball Gaining Confidence Despite Loss to Roslyn

The Colts took on the Roslyn Bulldogs in a non-conference volleyball contest yesterday afternoon at Calhoun High School in a match that coach Heather Glick scheduled to try and get her young team more experience against quality opponents.

The Colts appeared to gain confidence as the match wore on, even managing to win a game, but they ultimately fell to Roslyn three games to one.

Despite the loss, Glick was proud of the way her team handled themselves.

"Roslyn is a very good team," Glick said. "So I knew it was going to be difficult. My goal was to have as many people play as possible, and we did that. We saw a lot of new combinations on the court, and I felt like we worked better as a team."

The Colts fell behind early in the first game, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-5 lead after a block by Vikram Vivek. Back-to-back kills by Jacob Greenberg and Brian Grambo brought the Colts within eight, but after an ace by Roslyn's James Choi, the Bulldogs went up 19-12. Roslyn won the game 25-15.

"We were erratic," Roslyn coach Maureen Timony said. "As we've been all year long. We have a lot of new starters on the court and a lot of new hitters that need to be more aggressive and a little less nervous. But we're doing okay and making some progress every day. If we continue to work hard I think we'll be alright."

Roslyn jumped out to an early lead in game two as well. Chris DeCarolis put away a kill to put them up 9-4.  Calhoun would battle back as Kenny Leon recorded a kill and Jonathan Baldyga served an ace to cut the deficit to 16-14. However, it wasn't enough as Roslyn picked up its play and took the game by the score of 25-19.

Calhoun played its best in game three. After three early kills by Alex Morra and sharp serving by Adam Samuels, the Colts jumped to a 10-5 lead. Tom Murnane placed a nifty tip past Roslyn defenders to expand the lead to 18-12, and Calhoun won the game 25-21 off another kill by Morra.

"Our hitting was better," Morra said.  "We got over the block and around the block. Our defense started out rough, but then we started getting to loose balls and turned it around. We missed a lot of serves, so we need to work on that."

The Colts were unable to carry the momentum from the victory into game four. Kills by Vivek and Stephen Levy gave Roslyn a 12-9 lead. Although Calhoun kept it close, Choi put away a kill to put the Bulldogs up 22-16, and they won the game 25-19 to claim the match.

"We were trying hard in the beginning," Choi said. "But in the third game we slacked of a bit because we became overconfident. But Calhoun showed us their game and made us realize we need to play better to win, and in the fourth game everybody stepped it up and we managed to win."

Coach Glick said she believed yesterday's match would go a long way for her team.

"We didn't win," she said. "But morale is still high because we know that we are getting better and better."

The Colts are back on the court today when they travel to Massapequa for a 5 p.m. start.

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