Kellenberg girls volleyball's season ends in CHSAA state semifinals
Julia Maniscalco #6 of Kellenberg in action against Xaverian during the CHSAA High School girls volleyball state tournament, in Queens, NY on Nov 11, 2023. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
Momentum was strongly on the side of Kellenberg early, but when it shifted it seemed impossible to regain for the Firebirds.
Kellenberg was ousted by Xaverian (Brooklyn) 2-1, (17-25, 25-20, 25-18) in the NYSCHSAA state volleyball semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Queens College.
The Firebirds went 4-2 in pool play earlier in the day, including two sets won against Xaverian (25-23, 25-19), The Firebirds would face Xaverian again and won the first set on strong play by Stella Becker and Julia Maniscalco, who each had five kills in the set.
“Everyone has to play back-to-back matches, so everyone is a bit exhausted, but that can’t be an excuse.” Becker said. “This time they were firing on all cylinders on offense and picking up everything on defense.”
Becker finished with 13 kills and Maniscalco had seven. Bianca Sapano had 27 assists.
“We came into practice and worked hard every day,” Becker said. “We faced an unfamiliar opponent and really fought for it. We’ve been gritting it out all season, but it didn’t cut it this time.
The power of the attacks Kellenberg attempted seemed to be waning midway through the second set. With the score tied 8-8, Xaverian scored 12 of 16 points to take a commanding lead. Two kills from Alexis Gerstein brought the score to 22-20, but Xaverian scored the final three to take the set.
“We didn’t have any offense going after the first set, communication breakdowns and we just couldn’t terminate the ball,” said head coach Cathy von Schoenermarck. “Our swings weren’t crisp, and we didn’t put enough pressure on their defense.”
Kellenberg started the third set with Grace Canade's ace and a Xaverian error to take a 2-0 lead, but the Clippers scored three straight to take the lead for good. Xaverian again used timely runs in the third set to put Kellenberg’s backs against the wall, scoring five straight on two separate occasions.
“In the clutch moments they were always there,” assistant coach Ralph Formoles said. “They had a lot of key defensive stops and towards the end were seemingly digging everything."
The loss was Kellenberg’s (14-1) first of the season. The team went undefeated in league play, culminating with a win over Sacred Heart in the final. The Firebirds dropped just three sets in league play.
“We sought out the best competition in Nassau and Suffolk in order to prepare for this season,” von Schoenermarck said. “We played a tough game in the final but had a good performance from start to finish.”
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.
