Keira McCaffrey dominates as Mineola girls volleyball claims LI Class A championship
Mineola’s Elizabeth Kenney, left, and Keira McCaffrey attempt to block a spike during Long Island Class A girls volleyball final on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. Credit: Dawn McCormick
It would be difficult to put forth a more dominant performance than Keira McCaffrey and Mineola did with a Long Island girls volleyball championship on the line.
McCaffrey had 10 kills and four blocks as Mineola defeated Sayville, 3-0 (25-9, 25-6, 25-13), in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional final on Friday afternoon at SUNY-Old Westbury.
“I’ve wanted this for a long time, we put in the effort to be here and reach our goals,” McCaffrey said. “I came here with a sole focus on the task at hand.”
The Mustangs raced off to a quick start, taking a 10-3 lead in the first set after a Caitlin Kenney kill. Kenney tallied a kill and a block to score the final two points of the set.
Mineola scored the first five points of the second set and closed it out by scoring 15 of the final 16 points. Mary Chesna and Ava Murphy each had three kills in the set and Elizabeth Kenney had seven assists.
“We’re a very strong team overall, we’re good in every area a volleyball team needs to be,” said senior Elizabeth Kenney, who had 21 assists. “We communicate very well. I tell my hitters they can correct me at any time to give them better sets.
McCaffrey put on a show in the third set, where she picked up three of her blocks and six kills. The senior scored four straight points at one point for the Mustangs. Chesna closed out the match with a cross court shot, out of the diving reach of multiple Sayville (14-4) players.
“She’s our captain for a reason and we’re lucky to have her. She’s vocal and the girls look up to her and how she dominates,” Mineola coach Hyunah Park said. “She’s the nicest person but you would never know with how fierce she is on the court.'
Mineola’s dominating effort comes after a near defeat in the Nassau A final. They trailed two sets to one, before grabbing the fourth set 27-25 and the decisive fifth set 15-11 against Wantagh on Tuesday.
“We had a tough time getting to this point,” Park said. “We didn’t play as well as we could, and the girls knew that. Luckily, we never play poorly two games in a row, so we knew we’d step up this time.”
The next task for Mineola (15-2) will be getting past the winner of Jamesville-DeWitt/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in the state semifinals next Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
“I’m beyond excited,” McCaffrey said. “We’re going to practice this whole week and keep working hard, so we can achieve more of our goals."
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.
