Volleyball

Dawgs win hard-fought rematch versus Lady Comets

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY - Back on September 11, Fallsburg swept Sullivan West in three straight matches, a loss that stunned the Lady Bulldogs. To date, that victory by the Lady Comets stands alone against 10 defeats.

For Sullivan West, winning the rematch against Fallsburg at home was something the team had wanted badly. Consequently, the Lady Bulldogs’ defeat of Fallsburg in a five-match thriller on October 11 was that much more uplifting.

The win was only the second against 10 defeats posted by the Dawgs, and the first league win against nine losses in OCIAA division play.

Fallsburg narrowly won the opener 26-24, riding a pair of service aces from Jessica Brown and one from Jocelyn Justiniano in a match marked by two fine volleys.

Fallsburg got out to an 8-3 lead, but with Alex Peters serving, the Bulldogs came back from a 14-12 deficit to take the lead before Fallsburg knotted the score again at 21-all. The score was deadlocked at 24-all before the Lady Comets got the last two points with Erica Hanger serving.

The Lady Bulldogs got out to a big lead in game two. Erica McKinney played exceptionally well, as the Dawgs racked up seven straight points behind her service. A pair of aces from Brionna Lovgren helped, as did a fine service streak by Cara Davies. A thunderous spike at the net by Megan McCormack punctuated the Dawgs’ reassertion and they won game two by the score of 25-14.

Fallsburg regained its early hustle and the Lady Comets responded by defeating Sullivan West 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead in games.

Sullivan West trailed at the start of game three, but Alex Peters got the Bulldogs even at four apiece with an ace. A nice spike by McKinney was answered by fine play at the net by Brown, and the game was tied at eight-all. Fallsburg got a brief lead. But with Peters at the net, the Dawgs tied it up again at 14 apiece.

Later, Fallsburg rebounded from a one-point deficit with Brittany Hunter serving that gave the Lady Comets seven straight points to garner the 25-21 win.

Sullivan West won the next game. With Cara Davies serving, the Bulldogs vaulted out to a 9-1 lead on their way to a convincing 25-13 win.

The two teams took the floor for the deciding game five.

Trading points, Fallsburg got behind early, then lost another point to the service of Davies. But with Dana Maythenyi serving, the Lady Comets got out in front 5-3; McKinney’s service evened the score at five-all.

Brittney Geiger recorded a trio of aces and propelled her team to a 12-6 lead.

Sullivan West never looked back, and Fallsburg scored only six more points.

Fine service by Davies helped the cause, as did McCormack.

Sullivan West won the deciding game 25-12.

Coach Chris Barnes noted, “We scrambled well and had a lot of digs. Mostly, we were in position and playing where we needed to be on the court.”

Unfortunately, that did not continue down the stretch. “We started to lose hustle and were reaching at the last minute. We stopped anticipating the ball,” he said.

Kelly was delighted with the win and that his team didn’t “get down,” like they did at Fallsburg. “They beat us handily down there. We lost because we gave up at times,” he said.

Brittany Hunter led Fallsburg with nine points, three digs and 13 assists; Jessica Brown had 11 points, four kills, 11 digs and five aces. Erica Hanger had seven points, five kills, eight blocks and six digs.

Sullivan West’s top performers included Erika McKinney with 12 points and seven kills; Cara Davies had 20 points, six kills, 13 assists and four blocks. Brittney Geiger had 10 points, nine kills, 18 assists and four blocks.