Battle cats: Commack and Northport face off in girls volleyball
By Steven Zaitz
In a battle of two powerhouse teams, the Commack girls volleyball team beat crosstown rival Northport last Friday night.
The Lady Cougars dropped the first game 24-26 but came storming back to take the match in four games, winning the final three by scores of 25-8, 26-24, 25-16, at home Oct. 6.
Commack’s Kaitlin Curran had a monster day with 15 kills, 20 digs and four service aces. Both teams entered the match at the top of the standings in League II, but Commack now takes control of the conference, opening up a two-game lead over Northport with a 9-1 record. The Lady Tigers drop to 7-3.
“We knew Northport was going to be a tough team going into this match,” said Curran, who is tied for fourth in Suffolk County with Sarah Idler of Eastport-South Manor in kills with 147. “We never lost faith after losing that first set, and we knew if we kept a positive attitude and minimized our errors, we would come out on top.”
Lady Tiger outside hitter Emma Watts, who has 170 kills this season, good for second place in Suffolk, felt her team committed too many errors to win against such a quality opponent.
“We just had too many mistakes, and Commack did a great job in finding the weak parts in our defense,” Watts said. “It was definitely a tough loss, and we are focusing on these last few games and hopefully we will come out on top in all of them.”
Lady Cougar Maya Khan had 10 kills and 19 digs, and Molly Singer had 21 assists and four service aces. Curran’s sister Rylie had 35 digs.
For Northport, who wore all-pink uniforms to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Chloe Mayer had 30 assists and 15 digs, and eighth grader Riley Zdrojeski had four service aces and five kills.
“We have such a talented team with some of the best hitters in Suffolk County,” Mayer said. “But we just couldn’t get the job done after winning that first game. We will regroup and be ready for our next match.”
Northport played Sachem North at home on Tuesday, Oct. 10, and Commack, who lost at Connetquot in their very first game and haven’t lost since, played at Lindenhurst on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Both results occurred too late for press time.
