Port Jefferson girls volleyball wins its first Long Island Class C title

Port Jefferson girls volleyball team has officially separated itself from the pack.

The Royals defeated Oyster Bay in straight sets, 25-16, 25-16 and 25-9 to win its first Long Island Class C championship on Thursday night at Hauppauge.

Erin Henry and Olivia Sherman each had nine kills to lead the attack. Alexa Ayotte was the ultimate floor general, setting up the offense for 26 assists.

“To get an assist you need a good pass and a kill obviously, I feel like our passes were the best that they’ve ever been,” Ayotte said. “When I have the opportunity to set five other amazing girls on the court it's so easy to get that many assists.”

To start the contest neither team gained much separation with both sides struggling to generate points. After the girls said they felt they started out “slow,” they turned to each other to make things begin to happen on the court.

“If you mess up on a hit you just got to keep each other going, keep up the motivation and just go back to the basics of what you know and what you first learned," Henry said. "You gotta do the right things and the little things first.”.

“It took me and Erin awhile for us to shake it off and make sure that we kept getting the kills but we both always pick each other up and tell each other we know what to do and we’ve done it before,” Sherman said.

From there Port Jefferson began to pour it on, winning the first two sets.

In the middle of the third set and leading Oyster Bay by double-digits, Port Jefferson began to feed off the electricity and energy of the Royals fans, which reverberated throughout the gymnasium. They all realized they were on the cusp of making history.

After the final point the entire team rushed the court and many players ran into the crowd to join their loved ones.

Port Jefferson (17-3) will now travel upstate to face John Burke Catholic at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in West Point. Oyster Bay finishes 7-9.

When asked what he enjoys most about the girls latest performance, coach Charles Hafner said, “The little things we were trying to teach them, they are executing almost flawlessly now.”