Cougars Volleyball Clinches Share of Conference Title, Goal Far From Accomplished

Talk about ending the season with a bang.

Hosting their last regular season game of the year against the Jericho Hawks yesterday, the Cougars volleyball team won all three games to get the sweep. With the win, the Cougars tied Floral Park with a 10-2 record to claim a share of the conference championship.

Now, they set their sights on the postseason where they will attempt to win back-to-back county championships.

"It was a nice win today," coach Allen Ma said. "It helped us clinch our share of the conference championship. This is the second year in a row where we went undefeated at home and the kids knew that going into the match.  They really stayed focused and they did their job."

It was the third straight victory for Kennedy, who finished the season a perfect 6-0 at home.

"When we're playing at home we have more of a crowd and that pumps us up," Brendan Mills said. "We defended our title this year and have become conference champs again. We're looking forward to the playoffs."

Ben Hirschler got things started in game one with a kill to give the Cougars a 6-2 lead. Kills by Jacob Tabman and Jon Meshnick helped Kennedy build the lead to 20-15.  After a tip by Jesse Forman and a kill by Mills, the Cougars took the game, 25-17.

"It was a good game," Meshnick said. "We didn't play our best but we're looking good going into the playoffs."

In game two, back-to-back early kills by Brian O'Gorman gave Kennedy an 8-4 lead. An Andrew Hirsch kill and an ace by Dylan Simonson expanded their lead, and another kill by O'Gorman made it 23-16. The Cougars won the game 25-19 on a kill by Tabman after receiving a perfect set from Ryan Pastuch.

"We could have played better," O'Gorman said. "We thought we were going to come in and beat up on them but that didn't happen, especially in the second game."

After jumping to an early 9-2 lead in game three, kills by Hirsch, Hirschler and Mills kept Kennedy in control, 16-13. An ace by Matt Lawner made it 22-14, and the Cougars went on to win the game and the match 25-20 on a tip by Tabman.

"We're conference champions so we're all happy about that," Hirsch said. "Everybody played well today. Good blocking, good hitting, and good setting."

While expectations are certainly high for the Cougars, coach Ma attempted to downplay them in order to keep things in perspective.

"Our expectations are to get as far as we can," Ma said. "Hopefully things go well and we can repeat as county champions. But in order to do that we have to be on our A-game and really work hard over the next couple of weeks."

The players, however, were a little more frank when it came to those expectations.

"We're not expecting anything less than a county championship," O'Gorman said.

Whatever the end result may be, there is certainly no questioning the Cougars' determination and resolve upon entering the playoffs.

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