Volleyball teams bring pageantry and excitement to fans
Seniors — Olivia Yeaman (5), Julia Labrozzi (15) andNicolette Frasco (4) — in the starting lineup slap hands with their supporting cast as they take the court for their final home game.
Excitement was high in the Shelter Island gym on Tuesday, October 18 for the ninth annual “Dig Pink” volleyball match.
The gym was decorated with pink and white balloons donated by the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy and posters created by each player. Concessions and pink ribbons were sold throughout the matches, all in support of those battling breast cancer. The event raised $515 for the Side-Out Foundation, which funds research into stage-4 cancer, the most advanced form of the disease.
The tension was up a notch as the varsity team, fighting for a playoff berth, faced Port Jefferson.
Varsity plays a best-of-five match format. Despite a hard fight, we lost the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-19. Coming back down two sets to none is a huge challenge. Tenacious defense, increased offense and much improved team communication proved to be the key for the Islanders. In the critical third set, the Blue and Gray were up 20-17, but the Royals made a run to forge ahead 23-20. We scrapped to 23-23, then missed a serve to move the Royals within one point of winning the match. But a Nicolette Frasco block tied the score and Phoebe Starzee closed out the overtime victory 26-24 with an ace to force the next games.
It was a marathon, but the loud crowd and vocal support from the entire team urged the players on and we went on to win the next two, 25-19, 25-21. Our improving offense helped a lot. During the first half of the season we averaged just 3.85 kills per set, or 15.4 per match. During the second half of the season, we’ve jumped to 6.53 kills per set, or 24.5 per match. The increased firepower helps keep the pressure off our defense, and makes us less predicable. Sarah Lewis had a team-high 10 kills and
Domily Gil scored her season best seven kills. Sophomore Nichole Hand aided the cause with five kills and two aces.
October 21 was our final home match of the season and “senior send-off.” Seniors were presented with a rose and a teammate speaking about their contributions to the team. Team manager Alexis Perlaki also put together a video with season highlights.
Sophomore Nichole Hand pays tribute to senior Julia Labrozzi during the Friday, October 21 Senior Sendoff.
As the team took the floor, five of the starting seven (liberos count as a starter) were seniors. Olivia Yeaman held down the right side and Domily Gil baffled the Monarchs receivers with her trademark serving. Julia Labrozzi and Nicolette Frasco swung from the left and middle sides of the court respectively. Melissa Frasco, our defensive specialist and libero, was on point with her serving and serve receive. Seniors Genesis Urbaez and Amira Lawrence were supportive from the bench, letting their teammates know whether the ball was in or out.
After team introductions, we honored the memory of Christian Goody, class of 2014, with a moment of silence. Yeaman and Labrozzi, musicians as well as athletes, wowed the crowd with their trumpet duet of the National Anthem. The pageantry complete, the match began. Bishop McGann-Mercy had beaten us in 4 sets in September, and despite our improved offense, 8 service errors in the fourth set proved to be too much to overcome. We won the second set, 25-20, but Mercy took the closely played match.
Nicolette Frasco jumps high to swing at a ball as Sarah Lewis (11) and Nichole Hand (8) come in to cover her.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Island team has really come on with its serving, a key component of the JV game. With a goal of less than 15 service errors for the match, the players beat that goal handily, with their season best 12 errors. Jennifer Lupo alone had four aces, a personal record. Unfortunately, the Royals had a few strong servers who were able to string several points, leading to a 25-15, 25-12, 25-16 sweep.
On October 21 the JV squad had their own edge-of-the-seat excitement in the match against Mercy. We only had seven players, but the flexible crew got it done. Maria Carbajal was tapped as a middle hitter, and scored two kills with tricky tips. Lyng Coyne and Amelia Clark both showed strong serving, scoring 10 and four aces respectively. Clark also scored a season high five kills, while setter/hitter Amelia Reiter made three. The first set was a respectable 25-17 loss.
Jane Richards started the second set with a great serve. It set the tone for the stanza — grit, heart and hustle were all on display. Isabelle Topliff stared down Mercy’s top server who fired off jump serves, very impressive at the JV level. With the Island up 19-17, Mercy called a time out. Coach Jim Theinert emphasized focus and communication.
Suddenly we were tied at 24-24. Early in the season we never would have the confidence to believe we would win. But now the team is battle hardened. Holding off ties at 25-25, 26-26, 27-27, 28-28, and 29-29, the team forced the Monarchs into errors, earning a 31-29 overtime win.
To win a junior varsity contest, you need to win a minimum of two sets. The tiebreaker was only the second the team has faced this season, and it didn’t crumble under pressure. Keeping its composure, and under steady serving from Carbajal, the team was ahead 13-12 at the court switch. Unfortunately, Mercy was able to take advantage of a few of our missed serves at the end of the set to take the victory.
Just one match remains on our league schedule, the October 25 Pierson Whalers rematch. Their JV squad is very good and the varsity is undefeated at the top of League VIII. It’s a position that Shelter Island has held the past seven years. While we’re not in contention for a league title this year, we played them extremely well at mid-season, losing in a five-set tiebreaker.
It’s not pie-in-the-sky to hope for and work towards an upset for an uplifting end to the season.
