Ward Melville boys volleyball's Kyle Fagan leads way to back-to-back Long Island titles

When Kyle Fagan walked off the floor after Ward Melville was eliminated in the pool play round of the boys volleyball state championships last year, he knew he and the Patriots would be back.

Even when facing elimination in the fourth set of the Division I Long Island championship/Southeast regional final, there wasn’t a doubt in the Penn State commit’s mind.

Fagan totaled 33 kills and had eight in the fifth set, including one for the final point of Ward Melville’s 27-25, 21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-10 win over Massapequa for the Patriots’ second straight LI title Friday at East Meadow High School.

“We went down 2-1, but we felt like we had the momentum,” Fagan said. “We were down big in the third set, but we made it close. We took that momentum and took over the fourth set. It was all us from there.”

The Patriots advance to the pool play round of the state Division I championship, which begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Albany Capital Center.

Ward Melville trailed 20-10 in the third set before clawing back into it with a 6-0 run.

“We got to this point by having fun, but we weren’t having fun early on,” coach Brian O’Shaughnessy said. “It’s a small gym, but the room was starting to feel big. That was the message, enjoy what you’re doing because when we have fun, we’re a really good team.”

In the fourth, Fagan had six kills and a block and Reed Bhella had two kills and a block to keep the Patriots alive.

“I don’t care if I’m the one scoring, if I can get a smile on my teammates’ faces, I feel like I’m doing my job,” Bhella said. “I know I’m not the main point-scorer on my team, but I just hope I can keep everyone else up when things get tough.”

Ward Melville trailed 17-13 in the first set before using a 6-1 run to force a 19-19 tie. Fagan put down a kill on six of the Patriots’ final seven points in the frame.

Logan Coady and Jack Stanley got Massapequa back on track in the second set before Matthew Pettis’ blocking made all the difference in the third.

Coady had 16 kills, three blocks and three aces, Pettis had nine kills and four blocks and Stanley had nine kills and two blocks for Massapequa (18-2).

Bhella had eight kills, three aces and three blocks and Shaun Mischler had six kills, three aces and two blocks for Ward Melville (16-1). The Patriots will be looking for their first state title next weekend.

“That’s been the goal from Day One,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Massapequa is an incredible team and this could’ve been a state final if we could both be up there. It feels good, but we’re back to work.”