Junior high volleyballers notch win
The junior high volleyball team. Back row, from left, Dariana Duran Alvarado, Janet Carbajal, Danae Carter, Sophie Clark and Jennifer Fabian Santos. Front row, from left, Kaitlyn Gulluscio, Johanna Kaasik and Harper Congdon
The first day back from the five-day Thanksgiving break, the Shelter Island girls junior high volleyball team was back in action. With Sophie Clark working the scoring table, the team was down to just seven athletes for the Dec. 2 match against the 15-member Southold Red squad.
The teams were well matched, and parents and fans were kept on the edge of their bleachers by the close scores. As is often the case, the match was largely determined by the strength of the teams’ servers. Southold won the first set 25-21, but Shelter Island stepped up its game for the next two to win the match.
Harper Congdon served 3 aces in a row at the start of the second set, and the Island never relinquished the lead. Kaitlyn Gulluscio continued her strong serving as well, giving the crowd a chuckle at one point by calling “Watch out!” to the ref as her hard-hit serve veered toward the official on the stand. Jennifer Fabian Santos joined the serve ace club as she notched a point to put the home team up by 6 points.
The whole set wasn’t just serving, however. Danae Carter showed her speed on the court, moving quickly, then going to her knees to make a save on a short serve. After several exchanges over the net, Carter got the ball to Gulluscio who made a lunging save to trickle the ball back over the net to the surprised Settlers. The Island girls won the second set 25-21 and set their sights on taking the third.
Parents new to the sport are learning all kinds of things. Normally the set ends when a team reaches 25 points, but you need to win by 2, so scores of 26-24, or even 31-29 or higher have been recorded. In a deciding set, teams will switch sides when one team reaches 13 points. This levels the playing field (or court) if there are inherent disadvantages to one side, such as sun glare or low hanging ceiling obstructions.
The tie-breaking third set saw several nice rallies, with each team sending the ball back over numerous times. With the score tied 3-3, Fabian Santos made a great save to keep the ball in play. Johanna Kaasik showed that she is a quick learner as she adjusted her serve receive position in response to a short serve by the opponent. Dariana Duran Alvarado got some nice touches on balls to keep the play going as well.
Both Harper Congdon and Janet Carbajal are working hard on their passing, and the Island is running more multiple-hit rallies. This is the mark of an improving and more confident team. With skills still developing, many young players are tempted to “just get it over” to reduce the chance they might make an error. However, the Island girls know that short-term gain doesn’t always translate to long-term success.
Once again, Shelter Island led the entire set, but with the Blue and Gray ahead 23-16, Southold made a 5-point run to get to 23-21. Keeping their nerves in check, the Island played steadily, allowing Southold to make mistakes and won the set 25-22. This gave them the match win.
The happy team gathered after the match for a team photo in their matching team shirts, their wide smiles showing their pride. Come up to the gym on Dec. 10 or 16 at 4 p.m. and catch this young team in action.
