Class C Volleyball Quarterfinals

Enter Sandwoman

Sullivan West’s Amanda Kehrley closes out Tuxedo with aces high for the school’s first-ever sectional win

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Sullivan West’s volleyball coach Cliff Kelly had been watching his team give back leads all night long in the Class C quarterfinal match versus Tuxedo, and as game four wound down things were getting too close for comfort.

Even play had marked the match featuring two teams with identical league records of 3-1. They had split their regular season matches and both had beaten Fallsburg to earn their sectional berths.

With Sullivan West up two games to one, and having watched Tuxedo climb all the way back in game four to within one point at 21-20, it was time to pull the trigger. Kelly subbed in young Amanda Kehrley for Becky Cutler as Sullivan West was about to serve.

After the game, he confessed it wasn’t something he would have done earlier in the season. But watching Kehrley serve in big spots before, he figured she could do for him what Mariano Rivera has done for the New York Yankees since 1995: close the door on the opposition and bring home the win, the first-ever sectional volleyball win for Sullivan West.

When the doors of the bullpen open up in Yankee Stadium for Rivera, the strains of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” blast around The House That Ruth Built.”

Kelly needs to get a copy of that tune and have it at the ready the next time he brings Kehrley in at the end of a match. She’s lights out!

Kehrley reeled off three aces and Tuxedo sealed its own doom, hitting the final ball into the net to give Sullivan West a 25-20 win and a 3-1 winning margin in the match.

Earlier in the evening, Sullivan West came on strong in the first set, winning it 25-21. But that was not before Kelly had called time out to upbraid his team about letting Tuxedo back in a game they seemed to be sorely out of.

Five service errors hindered Tuxedo in game one. Sullivan West had two. The Lady Bulldogs managed two aces but Tuxedo countered with four.

Fine play at the net by Brittney Gieger, coupled with the fine hitting of Cara Davies and Samantha Vandiver, paced Sullivan West’s attack.

Tuxedo found its groove in the second set by minimizing service faults and upping its aces for five. The Lady Tornadoes evened up the match by reversing the first game’s score as they won 25-21.

In crucial game three, Sullivan West reasserted itself despite falling behind 4-2. A pair of aces from Cutler tied the score at four apiece. Tuxedo pulled ahead but its service problems and fine play by Davies and Vandiver put Sullivan West ahead at 11-9.

Amber McGiven turned out to be the game’s most valuable player, as she saved a ball destined to go out of bounds and added an ace to boot. Sullivan West led by as many as seven points but Tuxedo to roared back to within one at 21-20.

A pair of aces from Tuxedo’s Christina Kershaw and two more from Melissa Toscano had Kelly on the edge of his seat. He felt his team’s footwork wasn’t what it needed to be.

Gieger’s timely net play, a Tuxedo side out from a service fault and a final ace from McGibbon sealed the 25-21 victory.

For Sullivan West, looking for its first volleyball sectional win and playing in front of its enthusiastic fans, losing simply was not an option.

Following Kehrley’s brilliant close out in the fourth and deciding match, the Lady Bulldogs erupted with hugs and smiles.

Top performers included Cara Davies with three assists, seven kills, one dig, one block, two aces and 15 points; Brittney Gieger with seven assists, three kills, three digs, four blocks and 16 points; and Samantha Vandiver with eight kills, one dig, one ace and 13 points.

Kelly noted, “Every game we played with them was close.” Referring to his team’s tendency to let its opponent come back, Kelly quipped, “We don’t want to beat teams too badly, so we let them get back in it. It’s a mental breakdown.” That breakdown was not in evidence with Kehrley’s final run of stellar service.

Sullivan West had the advantage of playing much better teams during the season, including Monticello, Cornwall and Port Jervis.

Sullivan West (8-11) ended its season with a road loss to top-seeded Rhinebeck on November 1.

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