Vikings Volleyball Falls to Kennedy

Heading into the JFK-Bellmore boys volleyball match against Port Washington at Kennedy High School on Wednesday, Cougars head coach Dennis Ringel said something critical to his team as they watched their opponents warm up.

"You wanted a tough match up before playoffs, so here it is," Ringel said of the game.

It was evident that the team got that message as they caught a spark and responded strongly. The Cougars (13-1 overall) took down the Vikings (10-4 overall) in straight sets: 25-19, 25-22, and 26-24, for their 10th sweep of the season.

Port Washington looks build upon the success they've had come next week in the playoffs. However, this match serves as a strong reminder of the tough competition that awaits for both squads.

Quotable: "We are two very evenly matched teams and it was a great match," Port Washington head coach Maria Gianmanco said. "The last few games after we beat Massapequa, we got into a little bit of a slump. We were winning but not playing well in doing it. Even though we didn't win today, I thought we played decently overall."

Heroes: Senior Ben Adler led the team with eight kills. Sophomore Jong Ho Byun added six kills. Senior Michael Murphy contributed with a game-high 22 digs.

"It was definitely disappointing," Adler said. "We had a good practice yesterday and thought we could use the momentum here today from that practice. That last game we played pretty well, but it is hard when you have tough calls against you in a tight game."

Turning Point: The Cougars got off to a quick start and cruised to an early one-game advantage. The Vikings cleared up their mistakes and kept the second set close for most of the way, but the leadership of senior captain Brain O'Gorman at the net pushed the Cougars out to a commanding lead.

"We really wanted a challenge going into the playoffs," Ringel said of the non-league match.  "These were two really good programs. I thought we did some things nicely as far as execution, especially on serve and on our side on offense where we are able to get them out of system a little bit."

Key Stat: In the third and deciding set, the two teams were tied at 24-24, but the home team took the lead on a block at the net and closed out the match after a controversial ball called out on the back line.

"Our level of play is definitely where we want it to be," said the 6-foot-10 O'Gorman. "We have been saying that towards the end of the season, we need to step our game up a tremendous amount, and today we did that."

O'Gorman contributed with a game-high seven blocks as well as five kills. Senior Ben Hirschler, the Cougars other captain, had a game-high 10 kills. Senior Dylan Simonson added 16 digs.

"We have been looking forward to this match the second it was set up," Hirschler said. "We stayed focus throughout the match and didn't get too excited. We came out and executed and hopefully we can continue that into the playoffs."

Bottom Line: Both Kennedy in Class B and Port Washington in Class A will be looked as top contenders for a county championship in their respective brackets and potentially beyond that point. Despite that, there is still a lot of volleyball left to be played for these teams.

"I think regardless of how well we execute, there is a lot to work on," Ringel said. "We need to work on staying clean throughout the match. We need to stay consistent from point one to point 25."

Who's Next: Port Washington is the fourth overall seed in the Class A playoff bracket and has a bye for the first round. The Vikings will face off against the winner of the Long Beach and East Meadow match in the quarterfinals next Wednesday at 5 p.m. 

TEAMS....................1.......2.......3

JFK-Bellmore........25......25......26

Port Washington...19.......22.....24