Port Jefferson girls volleyball falls to Mount Academy in state Class C public school Regional final
After securing a third straight Long Island championship, Port Jefferson had its eyes on conquering the state tournament, but those hopes were dashed on Saturday afternoon.
Mount Academy defeated Port Jefferson, 25-12, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, in a state public school Class C Southeast Regional final at Mount St. Mary’s College.
McKayla Pollard had 21 kills and 20 digs, Ava Reilly had 33 assists and 12 digs and Sara Puopolo had 11 digs. Hannah Pflaster had 14 digs and two aces and Lina DeLeo had nine digs and eight kills.
“Ava has been fantastic for us, she’s got over 1,000 assists in less than two full seasons,” Royals coach CJ Hafner said. “Pollard took over for our outsides and DeLeo is only in 10th grade. I think we’ll be in a good starting spot next year.”
The Royals (18-1) hadn’t dropped a set all season, but quickly found themselves down two sets against Mount Academy (19-0), which won state titles in 2021 and 2022.
“I don’t know if I’d expect another season of 54-0 (sets) on Long Island again, that’s tough,” Hafner said. “I know the girls will be thinking about getting back upstate and they’ll trade dropping a few sets for that opportunity.”
Port Jefferson responded with a win in set three but were unable to keep their rally alive, falling in the fourth.
“We started a bit slow, but we fought back,” Hafner said. “We couldn’t overcome it, but the girls never gave up and I was proud of that.”
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.