Center Moriches girls volleyball rallies behind Erin Baldock to retain Suffolk Class B championship
Center Moriches celebrates a point during the Suffolk Class B girls volleyball final against Southampton on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Center Moriches’ hopes of repeating as county champions seemed nearly extinguished, down three points in the fourth set. But Erin Baldock refused to let her senior season come to an end.
No. 1 Center Moriches made its comeback, defeating No. 3 Southampton, 25-18, 18-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-7, in the Suffolk Class B championship on Wednesday evening at Hauppauge high school.
Baldock finished with 27 kills, Karly Coonan had 10 kills and Roselyn Barturen had 18 digs and 14 assists.
The Red Devils jumped out to a 5-2 lead after three kills from Coonan in the fifth set. Southampton tied it at 7-7 after a kill from Bailey Brown, but Center Moriches scored the next eight points to grab the decisive set, grabbing the final points with back-to-back kills from Baldock.
“I felt I needed to be the leader, I’m one of the people who has been here before,” Baldock said.
“I knew how it felt to be down, but I also knew the feelings of what would happen when we came back.”
Southampton dominated the second set, jumping out to a 7-0 lead as Brown had two kills during the run. Center Moriches pulled within three points at 11-8, but Southampton responded with four straight points to regain control. Brown had four of her seven kills in the set.
“We knew we had to fix our communication,” Barturen said. “We did a much better job of that late.”
Baldock again showed off some strong hitting as Center Moriches grabbed a 20-16 lead in the third set. Southampton scored five of the next six points to tie the set at 21-21 and with set point, Danna Nieto served an ace to take the set.
“We knew we had to keep pushing, we knew this was our game to take,” Baldock said. “We just had to play our game and we knew what the result would be.”
Southampton held a 15-12 lead in the fourth set after back-to-back aces from Beatriz Pariz. Center Moriches flipped the script this time, getting three kills from Baldock and two from Bianca Butta to take a 16-15 lead and ultimately grab the set.
“It’s been this way all season, we’ve had a few five-setters,” coach Nancy Morrow said.
“Sometimes it seems like we’ve left the gym, but we always come back and I couldn’t be more proud of these girls.”
Center Moriches will face the Nassau Class B champion in the Long Island Class B championship at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 at Wantagh High School.
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.