Nicole Gatti propels Oyster Bay girls volleyball to Nassau Class B crown
Oyster Bay teammates celebrate after their 3-1 win over Wheatley in the Nassau County Class B girls volleyball championship at SUNY Old Westbury's Clark Athletic Center on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Already having a career day with 13 kills, Nicole Gatti rose to the occasion one final time for Oyster Bay girls volleyball.
The freshman outside hitter soared above the net and walloped a perfectly placed lob from Sabrina Eisner through the teeth of Wheatley’s defense for her 14th put away, one that put the emphasis on a dominant fourth set and propelled the No. 1 Baymen past No. 3 Wheatley, 3-1, for their third straight Nassau title.
But it wasn’t just Gatti’s prowess at the net that helped Oyster Bay finish strong for the Class B crown Tuesday at SUNY Old Westbury.
“It was all about our confidence,” said Gatti, who took over the starting setter spot the moment she stepped onto varsity last season. “We weren’t playing with confidence at first. After that timeout in the second set, we were telling each other that we need to have confidence in the things that we do.”
Oyster Bay (17-1) snapped a tie at 19 in the first set with six unanswered points to defeat Wheatley 25-19. But the energetic Wildcats controlled the tempo of the second set from the first serve on both sides of the court and raced to a 15-3 lead. The Baymen rallied but Wheatley (12-6) held on for a 25-23 win.
“They were playing smarter and we got in our own heads,” Gatti said. “They were excited for every point and we lost our energy. It took us time to shake off the nerves and fix ourselves, but we all hyped each other up and it helped us come out much stronger in the final two sets.”
That’s when everything changed. The Baymen’s offense began to click, their serves began to fall, and they started to win the battle at the net.
“We were all definitely nervous because we wanted to prove we could do better than last year,” said Kaila Dennehy, who had four aces, four kills and four blocks. “But then we jumped right back into our usual business. We knew we could do it. We just had to find it in us.”
Oyster Bay raced to a 25-16 third set win and a 25-7 fourth set victory.
“Testing ourselves out in this game and seeing that we could pull it off takes a lot of weight off of us,” Gatti said. “We’re excited for the next game after learning from this one.”
Oyster Bay will face Center Moriches in the Long Island Class B championship Friday at 12 p.m. at SUNY Old Westbury.
