Commack girls volleyball rolls on with Suffolk Class AAA crown
Chloe Masciovecchio #18 of Commack, right, and Casey Colombo #21 celebrate a point won by the Cougars during the Suffolk girls volleyball Class AAA championship against Patchogue-Medford on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Credit: James Escher
New classification, same result for Maya Khan and Commack in the girls volleyball county finals.
The Cougars defeated Patchogue-Medford in straight sets, 25-17, 25-22, 25-14 in the Suffolk Class AAA final on Thursday night at Whitman High School. This was Commack’s second consecutive county championship after winning the Class AA final a year ago.
“It means a lot to win again, even in a new classification,” Khan said. “We persevered this season and now we’re excited to take it further and have another shot at LICs.”
Commack will face the Nassau Class AAA champion on Thursday, Nov. 9 at SUNY-Old Westbury.
The Cougars came into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and lived up to the billing, earning a championship without dropping a set in the playoffs.
“Before this match we strategized a lot,” Khan said. “We watched film and figured out where they liked to hit and that helped us play some great defense.”
Khan had nine kills, picking up three in the first set as Commack jumped out to a 18-10 lead. Commack closed out the set by letting a Patchogue-Medford serve sail beyond the end line.
Patchogue-Medford hung close to Commack in the second set behind strong hitting from Chelsea D’Esposito and Violet Tirelli. Commack led 22-21, before getting big hits from Kaitlin Curran (10 kills) and Khan to extend their lead. A service error once again ended the set.
“We lost a bit of energy early in the second set and that happens to us more than we’d like,” Chloe Masciovecchio said.” By the end of the set we were able to get it back and focus, to take it into the third set.”
Masciovecchio had big hits in the third set, grabbing five of her nine kills. Khan fired a hit toward the middle of the court off an assist from Molly Singer (20 assists) just out of the reach of a dive to close out the third set for Commack.
“The league we were in was so tough this season, but it did us well and prepared us for this road.” Commack coach Tracie Morenberg said. “Luckily, I’ve been blessed with a lot of talent. We aren’t one-dimensional, we can do a lot of different things.
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.
