Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK girls volleyball rallies from two sets down to win Nassau Class AAA final over Massapequa
Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK celebrates winning the Nassau Class AAA girls volleyball final after defeating Massapequa on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024 in East Meadow. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK had seen this story before. A sweep for Massapequa as the Hawks stood on the other side of the net, watching it receive another county championship plaque.
This time the third-seeded Hawks rewrote the ending, defeating top-seeded Massapequa, 21-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-18, 19-17, in the Nassau Class AAA championship on Wednesday night at East Meadow.
“Beginning of the season we had no clue what we were walking into. We graduated almost all our starters,” libero Emily Layton said. “We knew this could happen once we started playing the games, we knew we had a real shot to win it all.”
Dylan Katz had 11 kills and four aces, Jayden Axelrod had 18 kills and Isabella Sallie had 13 for Plainview.
Shea Ringel had 22 kills, Micaela Gillis had 11, and Victoria O’Neill had 10 for Massapequa.
The Hawks trailed 10-7 in the decisive fifth set, but Katz responded with three kills and an ace as Plainview tied it at 12. Axelrod’s kills gave Plainview its first match point at 14-13, but Ringel responded with a kill for Massapequa.
Plainview faced match point at 16-15 and Axelrod saved the match with a kill. With the score tied at 16, Emery Witkes earned a block and Katz followed with another to end the match.
“This feels unreal,” Katz said. “They aren’t in our conference and have a much different team than last season. We knew this would be a battle.”
Plainview would ultimately trail by two sets, but the second set is where it made its move. Trailing 22-13, the Hawks went on a 9-2 run to cut the score to 24-22. Massapequa saved a ball just inches off the ground with match point and a Plainview attack error ended the set.
“We started to work together as a team, rather than six individuals on the court,” Katz said. “We know when we play our game, we win.”
Plainview led the third set at 24-22 but kills from Ringel and O’Neill tied it for Massapequa. Plainview ended the set with kills from Sallie and Katz.
Plainview carried that momentum to the fourth set, taking a 19-9 lead after an Axelrod kill. Sallie closed out the set with a kill.
“This match was a lot of back-and-forth, but we knew we could do it,” Layton said. “We pushed each other and that was the game changer, supporting each other through mistakes.”
The Hawks will face Ward Melville at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at Wantagh in the Long Island Class AAA 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.