Volleyball

Blue streak

Sullivan West finishes strong against Ellenville in volleyball quarterfinals

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELLENVILLE, NY — Revving up for a sectional game that neither team thought it would see this year, Sullivan West and Ellenville took to the court on October 29, each looking for the chance to advance to play Millbrook in the Class C semifinals.

With only two league wins apiece, the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Blue Devils weren’t exactly burning up the court, but that mattered little now. Ellenville was playing in its first volleyball sectional tournament.

Ellenville led early in the opening set and held on for its only win of the night at 25-19.

Emboldened by its comeback in the opener, the Lady Bulldogs prevailed 25-13, sparked by the fine play of freshman Hannah Schwatz, who played nearly 90 percent of her games at the junior varsity level. Injuries to coach Cliff Kelly’s squad also sparked call ups of Jessica Goins, Maya Brady, Amanda Goddard and Ruby Wheaton.

In game three, Ellenville had the early advantage, but with Amber McGibbon serving, the Lady Bulldogs reversed the tide again. Amanda Kehrley’s service was first rate, too. Later, as the final game wound down, she would fire off a series of aces reminiscent of last year’s sectionals. That story, entitled “Enter Sandman,” made a comparison of Kehrley as closer to the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera.

Sullivan West won the set 25-12 and now led 2-1.

Led by Morgan Pretty’s awesome play at the net, the Lady Bulldogs looked to put the hammer down in set four. With Kline serving and Pretty looming large at the net, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

McGibbon and Kehrley served well and nearly closed the deal. A few late Sullivan West errors allowed Ellenville a chance to make it a bit closer, but Sullivan West prevailed 25-15.

“We were very equal teams,” said Kelly. “We made some mistakes that we promised we weren’t going to do and we didn’t execute well early on. Any team can beat any team if you don’t play well,” he noted. “Hannah [Schwatz] made that nice first run with serving and that is really all we had to do, once we realized they weren’t going to dominate the net over us.”

Ellenville coach Greg Militello said, “We came out ready to play and used a lot of energy in the first set. Sullivan West came out a little nervous but, once they calmed down, they turned it around and played much better.” Militello, now in his third year, said that Ellenville has a nice modified team coming up and hopes the enthusiasm will build toward yielding even better results in the future.

Ellenville defeated John A. Coleman Catholic, Webutuck and Pine Plains twice this season. They finished at 4-11.

Sullivan West lost to eventual champion Millbrook in the semifinals. Last year, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Rhinebeck in the semifinals.

Play-by-play details are available on riverreportersports.com

Lady Monties lose to Wallkill in Class A quarterfinals

WALLKILL, NY — It was a tough year for the 2007 Division III co-champion Monticello Lady Panthers as they exited in the first round of the Class A playoffs to Wallkill by the scores of 25-16, 25-7 and 25-22. Monticello, which lost to Cornwall in last year’s Class A final, ended its season at 10-8. A year ago, the Lady Panthers ended up at 18-2. Cornwall went on to defeat Goshen for its fourth-straight Class A title.