Mepham girls volleyball survives fifth-set match point to beat Long Beach
Sam Raikos of Mepham makes the block against Long Beach during a Nassau Conference 1 Volleyball match on Oct. 15, 2024. Credit: Derrick Dingle /Derrick Dingle
Mepham was in an uphill battle all evening, with no bigger moment than facing match point in the fifth set of a Nassau Class AA county final rematch.
Mepham defeated host Long Beach, 20-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-18, 17-15, in Nassau I girls volleyball on Tuesday night.
With the Pirates trailing 14-13 in the fifth set, they were unable to set up an attack off a free ball. Samantha Raikos delivered a perfectly placed strike from a grounded position that found the court and kept the match going.
“At that point, you just have to put it all out there,” said Raikos, who had 10 kills. “I knew I just had to get it in, that was the type of ball if you mess up you’ll be thinking about it all week.
Paige Cahlstadt delivered an ace to give Mepham a match point, but Long Beach’s Carlita Curtis saved the match with a kill. An error gave Mepham another match point and Deanna Cinquemani served an ace to close the match. Makayla Daube had four of her 13 kills in the set.
“Long Beach is a great team and nobody deserved to lose this match,” Mepham coach Tom Wildeman said. “We played them in the county finals last year and we expect that we may see them again there this year.”
The fourth set was tied at 16 before Mepham closed it out with a 9-2 run. Raikos delivered a kill to close out the set.
Mepham grabbed an 18-11 lead in the third set as it began to find success after limiting mistakes. Abby Palmer finished the set strong with four aces to close it out.
“We made a couple lineup switches, but aside from that, the girls just didn’t give up,” Wildeman said. “They kept pushing and stuck to what we do. Serve hard and swing hard.”
Mepham led the second set 14-13, but the Marines scored the next six points to pull ahead and ultimately take the set. Mepham also led in the first set 15-12, before Long Beach began to take control. Julia DiGiorgio had three aces and the final kill as the Marines (4-6) took the first set.
“We reverse swept them last year here and I told all the girls to have that same mentality,” Raikos said. “We don’t have much to lose so just go out there, have fun and put it all on the court.”
Mepham (3-8) earned its second consecutive win as it looks to hit its stride as the season winds down.
“We know this conference has a lot of tough teams to play,” Raikos said. “But we feel we definitely have an advantage having played these teams, it gives us more confidence going forward.”
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.