The Ward Melville boys volleyball team fought back in the second set Oct. 14 having to win by two, edging Connetquot, 27-25, but they lost the next two to drop the match, 3-1, at home.
The Patriots fell 25-21, 25-27, 25-23 and 25-17 in the Division I contest. The loss drops the Patriots to 5-5 with four games remaining before post season play.
Ward Melville retake the court Oct. 19 when they host Commack with a 4:30 p.m. start.
The Northport boys volleyball team showed why they sit atop the Division I leaderboard when they swept Smithtown East in three sets — 25-19, 25-22 and 25-18 — at home Sept 28.
Although the score was close in the second set, Northport has not allowed their opponents to play beyond three sets this season. The win lifts the Tigers to 6-0 of their 15game season, while the loss drops the Bulls to 3-3.
Northport’s Zach Zdrojeski notched 18 kills in the contest, and teammate Jake Zarko killed 13.
Both teams are back in action Sept 30, where Northport hosts Smithtown West, and the Bulls have a road game against Commack. Both games start at 4 p.m.
On Sept. 9, Smithtown East led 20-11 in the first set and let Ward Melville right back in it when the Patriots rallied to win 25-21. The Bull’s answered in the second set squeezing out a two-point win to tie the match at one all. The Patriots countered in the third set edging the Bulls by four, but Smithtown East dominated the fourth set winning by 10 to force a game five. The Patriots picked their spots and took the deciding final set 15-11 to win the match 3-2 on the road.
Jaron Popp a junior led the Patriots with 22 kills, and senior Timmy Chu notched 51 assists followed by Dylan Fagan who killed 14 and had 18 digs in the contest. Both teams retake the court Sept 14 where the Patriots host West Hampton and the Bulls hit the road to take on Comsewogue. Game times are 4:15 and 5:45 p.m. respectively.
Ward Melville boys volleyball started strong with Sachem East winning the opening set but fell behind in the second clawing their way back to win it by two points.
East had no intention of going quietly when they nipped the Patriots in the third match winning it 25-22 to force a game four. Ward Melville rallied back to take the fourth set to win the match 3-1 at home March 15.
Senior co-captain Bryan McCaffery led the way for the Patriots with 15 kills followed by Christopher Sohl who had five kills and five blocks, along with teammate Charlie Fernandes who served up four aces. Ward Melville took it in four sets 25-16, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-15 in the Division I matchup to lift the Patriots to 2-2 in this COVID-abbreviated season.
All three sets were close for Ward Melville when Sachem East came knocking but the Flaming Arrows swept the Patriots 25-22, 25-32 and 25-20 in Division I volleyball action Sept. 26. The win lifted Sachem East to 3-4 for the season as Ward Melville slipped to 2-5.
The Patriots look to get back on track to put another “W” in the win column with a road trip against East Hampton Oct. 3. First serve is 5 p.m.
Northport Tigers varsity boys volleyball defeated Smithtown West Bulls, 3-0, Sept. 13 in Smithtown.
Northport boys volleyball has started its 2018 season on a positive note with two consecutive wins. They will continue on the road to play Ward Melville Sept. 20 at 4:30 p.m.
The West Bulls are still looking for their first win of the 2018 season as they are scheduled to host Lindenhurst Sept. 20 at 4 p.m.
By Bill Landon
Northport’s boys’ volleyball team (now 8-2 League 1) limited visiting Center Moriches (now 4-7) to just 33 total points in the Tigers’ sweep Oct. 18, 25-10, 25-9, 25-14.
From the opening serve, Northport overwhelmingly dominated the net, blocking shot after shot and serving strongly, limiting the Red Devils to 10 points in the first set.
Northport head coach Amanda DiPietro rested her starters for the second set, but it only got worse for Center Moriches, as the bench demonstrated the team’s depth. The Tigers broke out to an 11-3 lead before Center Moriches scored again.
“I felt confident that if I put my subs in, they could get the job done,” DiPietro said. “They came out with a lot of energy, and we just played our game and we felt confident on our side [of the net].”
The margin grew to 18-5 before Center Moriches called timeout, but the conference didn’t help. The Tigers allowed just four more points before putting away the set.
“We wanted to let everybody get a chance to play,” senior middle hitter Jamie O’Donnell said. “It was a smart decision by the coaches to do that. We didn’t have many unforced errors either, so we did well to keep that under control.”
Northport fell behind 4-1 early in the third set, but switched gears, forgoing the power serves for aces by playing it safe and just putting the ball in play. Center Moriches grew tired and began making mental mistakes, which proved costly as the Tigers clawed their way to tie, and eventually take an 8-6 lead.
“Our job today was to just get the ball over the net, put the ball in play and let them make their own errors,” senior outside hitter Chris Parker said. “We served almost every ball inbounds, which was important.”
None of the starters had seen action since the first set, except for team captain Jeremy Rescott, a senior setter who directed his band of nonstarters to keep the ball in play, and let their opponent beat themselves.
“Our strategy was to keep our serves in and cut down on as many errors,” Rescott said. “We knew this was a team we could play conservatively [if we played mistake free].”
Senior right side hitter Sam Maritato finished the job for Northport by blasting an unexpected service ace to take the third set, 25-14, to win in straight sets.
Rescott led his team with six kills, Parker added five and O’Donnell finished with four. Junior setter Ben Sandt led his team in assists, with 14.
“I think our libero Andrew Roniger is one of the most underrated players — he’s so confident and although he’s quiet he really takes charge on the court,” DiPietro said of the way the senior played throughout the match. “I’m always impressed with my captains Jeremy Rescott, Chris Parker and Jamie O’Donnell, too, they’re just leaders on and off the court. But still, when you take them out, we have other guys that step up.”
Northport has four games remaining in the regular season, two of which will be critical for playoff seeding. The Tigers faced Smithtown West (7-2) Oct. 19, but results were not available by press time. Northport will meet West Islip Oct. 24, before taking on undefeated Sachem North on Oct. 26 at home 5:45 p.m. Then comes Half Hollow Hills Oct. 31.
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