Sayville girls volleyball: Adria Vargas, Trinity Ricevuto lead Sayville to Suffolk Class A championship
Trinity Ricevuto #15 of Sayville serves the ball to Westhampton during the Suffolk Class A girls volleyball championship on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. Credit: David Meisenholder
Sayville’s opportunity for a third straight county championship was fading fast as it faced three consecutive match points. But this team had been in this situation before, and that made all the difference.
No. 1 Sayville defeated No. 2 Westhampton, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 22-25, 18-16, in the Suffolk Class A girls volleyball championship on Thursday night at Hauppauge High School.
“We knew we’d have to work to make it to this point,” Trinity Ricevuto said. “We went in the gym every day, working toward becoming county champions again.”
Sayville found itself trailing 14-11, just one point away from its season ending but responded with kills from Kelly Reese and Ricevuto to get back into the set.
Ricevuto hammered home two kills to save another match point and give Sayville a 16-15 lead. After errors from each team, Khylee Boesch spiked a ball that stayed inside the back line to win the match.
“We came out with zero nerves, we just had to give it everything,” Ricevuto said. “We wanted to do this for each other and just had to play as a unit.”
Adria Vargas, who missed last season with a knee injury, had 25 kills and Ricevuto had 22 for Sayville. Katie Burke had 12 kills for Westhampton and Karly Pascale had 11.
“It’s an honor to be a part of this,” Vargas said. “I love being here with this team, going through the challenges and experiencing the success.”
Westhampton used a 9-4 run to take a 12-7 lead in the first set, aided by three kills from Burke. Sayville responded with an 11-4 run and Vargas ended the set with her seventh kill.
Westhampton grabbed a 12-6 lead in the second set after three consecutive aces from Burke and wouldn’t look back. Mia Hill had three kills in the set for Westhampton.
Sayville (17-0) took control of the third set, leading 18-8 after a Ricevuto kill. Westhampton rattled off a 16-6 run to tie the set, 24-24. Ricevuto was able to hammer home a kill after a Westhampton error, winning Sayville the set.
“It was a little intimidating coming into this season, knowing I need to lead as a senior,” Vargas said. “All the seniors on this team filled a big role and led together.”
Westhampton (13-3) pulled away in the fourth set after a kill and back-to-back aces for Burke, made it 19-14. Pascale had four kills and a block in the set.
Sayville will face the Nassau representative at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Hauppauge High School in the Long Island Class A championship.
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.