Volleyball: Silver victory at volleyball tourney
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
It’s an old adage but a very fitting description of the Shelter Island varsity volleyball team’s experience at the Eastport-South Manor (ESM) Volleyball Invitational on Saturday, September 17.
The annual ESM tournament features 20 teams, from Nassau powerhouses Massapequa and St. Anthony’s, to the smaller East End schools such as East Hampton and Shoreham-Wading River. The teams were divided into four pools of five teams each. Not unexpectedly, Shelter Island was seeded last in our pool.
The goal of attending the tournament was to see tougher competition than we normally face in League 8, gain experience in tournament situations to aid us in the post-season, and to allow other coaches to see our athletes in action. With the top four teams in each pool making it into the playoffs, we also hoped to win enough games to advance to the next round.
The 8 a.m. opening match was against Connetquot, a AA “team to watch” in Newsday’s preseason predictions. Neither the Thunderbirds nor the Indians seemed awake that first match. Miscommunication, missed serves and a shaky offense led to a 25-15, 25-23 defeat for the blue and grey.
Next up was Bayport-Blue Point, a perennial post-season team known for its fiery coach. She had plenty to discuss with her team because Shelter Island began to put together some good offense. After losing the opening set 24-25, we switched to an alternative line-up and the blue and gray emerged with their first victory of the day 25-23.
Shoreham-Wading River has a couple of outstanding players. However, we were able to actively attack their weaknesses with pinpoint serving. With the Wildcats distracted with a bit of internal strife, we marched to a 25-12, 25-19 victory, assuring us of our place in the playoffs.
Our last match in pool play was against the Chiefs of Massapequa. A very polished team and the Nassau County AA champs for over a decade, they run an extremely fast offense coupled with excellent defense. Our goal was to score more points against them than we did in the 2010 tournament. We were successful and posted a respectable 17 points each set.
At this point, the fifth-place team in each pool went home for the day. The first and second rankings went on to the gold championship round, while the third- and fourth-place teams faced off in the silver bracket. Coming in fourth, we faced an uphill battle, but after a brief rest and healthy snacks, we jumped back into the competition against the third-seeded Longwood Lions.
Moving to a new court in a smaller gym, the Indians had to adjust their serving as well as their defensive perception. After a few of Longwood’s deep balls dropped in, we began to communicate better and motored smoothly to a 25-12, 25-16 win.
In the semi-finals, we faced Walt Whitman, another team originally seeded fifth. We both had a bit to prove and Whitman’s scrappy defense kept returning our hard-hit balls. Katy Binder had to hit three consecutive sets to finally win the point on one rally. It was during this match that the physical conditioning many of the girls did this summer began to really show. Calm and confident, the team circled into the middle of the court after each point, looking each other in the eye and pushing on to the finals. After a 25-21 first set, we took the second easily, 25-14.
The silver bracket final was a single 25-point set against Smithtown West. Knowing that Smithtown had a powerful left-handed hitter and excellent serving, we knew we had to start fast and just keep powering through until the end. We laid out our strategy, put in the line-up, circled up for the “SHEL-TER-IS-LAND!” cheer and began playing “for all the marbles.”
Haley Willumsen’s jump-float serve forced the Bulls to pass the ball just over the net, where Kelsey McGayhey was waiting to power it to the ground. It was 1-0, Shelter Island. An Erin Colligan kill and two more Willumsen aces brought the score to 4-0 but the Bulls weren’t quite ready to roll over yet. A couple of Shelter Island errors and Smithtown West kills later, the score was even at 6-6.
But nearly 12 hours of playing that day had honed the Indians’ faith in one another. A combination of tough blocking and unshakable defense by libero Jayme Clark denied the Bulls their usual string of points by their talented hitters.
Alexis Gibbs stepped to the serving line and began methodically picking apart the Smithtown serve receive, first one corner, then the other. Morgan McCarthy used her jumping ability to block an errant Bulls pass. With the Indians ahead by 10 points at 20-10, Smithtown looked disbelieving and, their confidence shaken, had consecutive servers miss their serves.
Katy Binder, who had shifted to playing outside hitter for much of the day, had fun challenging the very active Smithtown West libero and scored kills both with hard-hit balls and an expertly placed roll shot. As the last ball hit the floor, coaches and players alike threw their arms into the air and burst into a heartfelt roar as we celebrated our first-ever tournament final victory.
Don Consorte, the Eastport-South Manor coach and tournament director, presented the team with a Silver Bracket championship plaque and individual medals. Having expressed admiration for individual athletes earlier in the day, he complimented the entire team for its Herculean effort of the day. Sophomores Bre Rietvelt and MeMe Lawrence had gained valuable exposure to very high levels of play and are looking forward to sharing that wisdom with the JV squad as they head to the Brentwood tournament on September 24.
Putting the medals over the heads of the sweaty, exhausted but jubilant athletes was a fabulous feeling. With less than half of our league matches played to date, we now know what we are capable of. We have raised the bar for Shelter Island volleyball once again. Bring on the rest of the season!
