Cougars Volleyball Into Final Four With Sweep of Wantagh

It was business as usual yesterday for the Cougars volleyball team.

Hosting Wantagh in the Class B quarterfinals, Kennedy was given a scare in the first game as they had to fight off two match points, but managed to come away with the victory and then proceeded to win the next two to complete the sweep and advance to the final four.

It marks the sixth time in the last eight years that the Cougars have been in the final four, which is the second most of any volleyball program in Nassau County. Only Plainview has been there more.

"I thought we played pretty well," Dylan Simonson said. "We faced adversity and pulled out a nice 3-0 win. We got a final four game next round and we're ready for it."

Game one was a thriller. Wantagh would jump to an early 12-9 lead after a kill by Rob King, but Kennedy came back to tie it at 15. Brian O'Gorman put away a kill to put the Cougars up 21-19, but it was Wantagh who had the chance to win it first with a 24-23 lead.

Kennedy would fight off two match points, but then they had trouble putting the game away as Wantagh remained resilient and fought off multiple match points of their own. Making things even crazier was the fact that the Cougars ran out of subs during the game, and had to keep players in the game out of position.

After taking a 31-30 lead, the Cougars were finally able to put away the game off of a block by Jacob Tabman, 32-30.

"We ran out of subs in game one," Kennedy coach Dennis Ringel said. "And when that happened our guys handled it perfectly. They were in unfamiliar territory doing unfamiliar things, and it was like nothing had happened. They did a fantastic job in a really tough situation."

Team captain Brendan Mills was forced to play the back row, which is something he is not accustomed to.

"It was great for a change," Mills said. "I took what was given to me and I actually got a dig in the back row. But we came through and ended up winning."

A kill from Mills gave Kennedy an early lead in game two, and after kills by Andrew Hirsch and Jon Meshnick, the Cougars led 19-15. Back to back kills by Ben Hirschler expanded the lead to 24-17, and the Cougars took the game 25-17 off a kill by Tabman.

"We thought we were going to come in here and wipe them out," Hirschler said. "But they came to play. We were slacking a little in the first game, but we caught up, stayed focused and we pulled out the win."

The Cougars jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in game three behind a couple of aces by Hirschler. A kill from Mills made it 13-6, but Wantagh would battle back and tie it at 19 after a kill by Matt Schussler.

A Ben Canarick kill gave the Cougars the lead back at 21-19, and then kills by O'Gorman and Hirschler secured the game and the match for Kennedy, 25-22.

"It was a fantastic game of volleyball." Wantagh coach Lisa Fugazzi said. "My guys came here to give them a run for their money and I'm very proud of the way we played. It was a great match."

Not to be lost in the match was splendid setting by both Jesse Forman and Ryan Pastuch, as well as fine back row play by Simonson and Matt Lawner.

In the final four, the Cougars will play Jericho at Massapequa High School on Monday at 4:30 p.m.  Kennedy swept Jericho when the two teams met last month.