Sophia Pittoni helps No. 1 Carle Place defeats Evergreen Charter to claim Nassau Class C championship
Carle Place wins the Nassau Class C girls volleyball championship in East Meadow on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
With just three seniors on the roster, Carle Place came into this season with many questions. Despite those questions, the Frogs still managed to have a moment of glory.
No. 1 Carle Place defeated No. 2 Evergreen Charter, 25-15, 25-13, 25-14, to win the Nassau Class C girls volleyball championship on Monday afternoon at East Meadow high school.
“I feel like this is a long time coming,” team captain Sophia Pittoni said. “Our program has been good before, but we always seem to fall short. It’s been tough to finally get this one and it’s the best feeling ever.”
The Frogs scored the first three points of the first set as Pittoni had two aces. Carle Place went 6-0 run, including a kill from Julia Rubim to take a 22-12 lead. Pittoni a senior, finished with seven aces.
“A lot of girls on the team had never even touched a volleyball before this season began,” Pittoni said. “Now I see some of them becoming starters and I can’t wait to see them earning more trophies in the future.”
Evergreen Charter pulled within one point at 12-11, after an ace by Cristal Martinez in the second set. Hailey Kruk responded with five consecutive aces during a 6-0 run for Carle Place.
Evergreen Charter took an 8-4 lead in the third set, aided by two aces apiece from Dimia Turcios and Angelica Falcon. Carle Place tied the set at 13 after an ace from freshman Maja Kruczek.
“We haven’t won many games this year, but we’ve grown with every day of practice,” Kruczek said. “We all have put in the work and I think we have a bright future.”
Kruczek had aces on seven of the Frog's next eight points. Jacqueline Romero had a kill to make it 24-13 and Sofia Alvarez had an ace on match point to give Carle Place the victory.
“We’ve put in a lot of effort this season and dealt with girls being out,” Kruczek said. “It feels good to rebound from it, play with everyone and win together.”
Carle Place will face Port Jefferson at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hauppauge high school in the Long Island Class C championship. Port Jefferson hasn’t lost a game this season and will be one of Carle Place’s toughest matches this season.
“We were a little sloppy today, so we’ll have to put forward a better effort,” Carle Place coach Rafael Chong said. “We’re young and inexperienced, but I’ve seen the growth in the girls and I think we’re getting more productive.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.