Connetquot girls breeze into state volleyball final
Connetquot's Cassandra Patsos with the slam during the New York State Public High School Athletic Association girls volleyball state Class AA semifinals where Connetquot defeated Clarence in first game pool play at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York on November 21, 2015. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- The Connetquot Thunderbirds acted like they had been in this position before.
Funny thing is, they haven't.
This is all new to a squad that wrapped up pool play at the girls volleyball state championship tournament at the Glen Falls Civic Center Saturday with a dominant 5-1 record, finishing first in Class AA.
"They played as if it was not their first time, that's for sure," coach Justin Hertz said.
Sophomore setter Nicole Migliozzi said that the spotlight never unnerved her team.
"A lot of us are used to playing in arenas like this from club ball," she said. "We walked into this gym today and said it was going to be our gym, and we were going to act as if it was our home court."
The T-Birds were hot from the start, sweeping Clarence (25-11, 25-14) and Pine Bush (25-18, 25-21). Connetquot had already clinched a spot in the finals before even stepping on the court to play Shenendehowa in the last match of pool play.
"The plan all morning was to find our first four games and hope that would be enough to lock it up," Hertz said. "To lock it up was a great feeling -- first time up here to go 4-0 and eventually 5-0 is a testament to our team and to our program."
Connetquot would move to 5-0 after beating Shenendehowa, 25-23. The T-Birds dropped the next set, 25-20. But that was irrelevant to the final standings, as Pine Bush clinched a spot in the finals as soon as Shenendehowa lost that opening game.
The key for Connetquot was ball control. This allows the Thunderbirds offense to thrive, and with Mackenzie Cole, Mackenzie Taylor and Taylor Cole playing great defense on the back row, that's exactly what happened.
"Our ball control is always good," Migliozzi said. "Sometimes you don't even notice how good it is because it's so consistent."
A beneficiary of the crisp ball control was Cassandra Patsos, who was a threat on the outside throughout. She said the passing and serve receives allowed her and the other hitters, like Taylor and Katie Von Kampen, to capitalize on opportunities.
Connetquot (19-0) has ridden its mostly young core -- the "Soph Seven' -- to its first-ever state tournament appearance. Now the T-Birds will play in their first-ever state final Sunday at noon against Pine Bush.
