Shelter Island School volleyball varsity team guaranteed playoff bid

And, suddenly, we are at mid-season.

The Shelter Island volleyball teams, with the exception of one JV match, have now seen all the teams in our league and can start to set goals for the remainder of the year.

The JV team’s league record stands at 4-1, with Greenport still to be seen.

After the Eastport-South Manor tournament on September 19, the team is clicking. The squad played their best match yet when previously undefeated Port Jefferson came to town on September 24. The Royals were shocked to find themselves on the lower end of the score as the pumped-up Blue and Gray swept them, 25-13, 25-15, 25-16.

In characteristic style, Sarah Lewis led the team in service aces — 11 total. Liz Larsen controlled the net, blocking a ball down, then spiking down, killed the last ditch effort to save the ball. The team has embraced the three-hit challenge, with players confident enough to pass the ball to the setter, then immediately ready themselves for a set. Both Julia Labrozzi and Phoebe Starzee scored points in this well choreographed manner.

Nichole Hand is also getting the knack of a quick transition, blocking a ball, then quickly getting back to make an approach for a hit. Issie Sherman has been determinedly working hard on her serve; her teammates gave a rousing cheer when she made her first overhand serve in a game.

Nicollete Frasco has a great capacity to keep her eye on the ball, even when it is coming from the back row; she was able to convert some broken plays into points with her heads-up swings. Ella Mysliborski made great scrambles to keep the ball in play

The Islanders were really scrappy, surprising the Royals on several occasions with their never-say-die hustle.

Including their non-league and tournament play, the JV record overall is 5-4-1.

VARSITY
After a busy week, the varsity’s league record stands at 5-0. With all opponents already seen, that guarantees us a .500 record, and a spot in the playoffs. Including non-league and tournament play to date the varsity record overall is 12-3-1.

With both Bridgehampton and Ross dropping out of League VIII competition, we’ve begun seeking alternative non-league matches to fill out the schedule. Once out of small school League VIII, we play much bigger schools, giving us the opportunity to test ourselves against unfamiliar opponents. All of keeps us sharp, upping our level of play to prepare for the post-season.

On Tuesday, September 23 we took the short bus ride to Greenport. Because of Yom Kippur commencing at sundown, only the varsity squads faced off. The improving Clippers were stunned in the first set by our serving, but gave us quite a fight in the second, before settling for a 25-8, 26-24, 25-15 loss.

The September 24 match against Port Jefferson showed how well our offense can run when we control the ball. Serina Kaasik had a couple of terrific defensive plays, keeping the ball from hitting the floor. Emily Hyatt and Kenna McCarthy are connecting more and more on quick sets from the middle, and Margaret Michalak and Kelly Colligan are getting even more looks at the faster sets to the outside.

The fans appreciated the fun offense, cheering as Amira Lawrence connected on multiple kills, and even Superintendant Len Skuggevik was there to cheer, calling out “Go get ‘em, 1-2,” as Colibri Lopez (who wears #12) stepped to the service line. The home team swept the visiting Royals 25-7, 25-16, 25-19.

The following day featured a visit from the high-powered Westhampton Beach Hurricanes. Most of their squad plays club volleyball; several of the girls were on the same team as McCarthy, Colligan and Michalak. While there were friendly gathering in the bleachers during the JV match, it was all business on the court.

The Hurricanes are tall and well-trained, featuring tough serves and a balanced attack. Their blocking was good — unlike anything we have faced in League VIII. It took a full set to adjust to the speed of their serving and attack, and the Islanders dropped the first set, 11-25.

The Hurricanes’ coach is known for mixing up his line-ups and started with a different look for the second set. We kept pace but were worried when we were up 20-18 and he put back in all his big guns. Faced with 6-footers, we held our own until they crept past to win 28-26 in “extra innings.”

Melissa Frasco, our libero and defensive specialist seemed to thrive on the hard hit balls. She led the team in digs, popping up 15 of the hardest hits we’ve seen all season.

The third set was a time for Westhampton Beach to let their bench play and we cruised to a 25-11 win. The final set was back to hard stuff and we scored 16 to their 25.
We use the phrase #theroadtostates to remind us that while winning the league is an excellent goal, that not even an undefeated season will properly prepare us to win against bigger, stronger teams. The Westhampton Beach match was a great chance to see what we need to improve to win the harder games.

With that mindset, we also played in the eight-team Mattituck tournament on September 26. It was a long day; we played each of the seven other schools in two 15-point sets. This allowed coaches to try many permutations of lineups — outside hitters were transformed into right side players, or even a setter. Some middle hitters played in the outside position.

Shifting positions of the players in relation to one another on the court was also fun. We had a chance to play Class A Rocky Point, Class B’s Hampton Bays and Shoreham Wading River, Class C’s Center Moriches, Mattituck and Greenport and fellow Class D Pierson. We lost both sets to Rocky Point in pool play, split with host Mattituck, but beat everyone else, ending the regular pool play with an 11-3 record, seeded first for the playoffs.

In the first two rounds of playoffs we beat Greenport and avenged the one set loss to Mattituck.

In the finals we faced Center Moriches. The Red Devils are tall and a good blocking team. They also had dialed up their serves throughout the day and we had trouble getting good passes.

Without good passes we weren’t able to run the offense as effectively, putting our hitters up against double blocks on nearly every swing. Although we covered our players well, often popping up balls that got blocked, the Devils persevered to win the tournament.

The second place finish was the highest ever for us in that tournament. And this is just the type of competition we need to grow better.

In the last half of the season we will be seeing Center Moriches, Hampton Bays and Shoreham Wading River in non-league contests, giving us another chance to see what we can do against those larger schools.