John Jay Falls in Five Set Thriller to Somers

The last week of the regular season upon us, John Jay and Somers put their crosstown rivalry in place. Tuesday, October 19, the Wolves had the affair looking pretty one-sided and stood a point away from sweeping. Unfortunately, it was the Tuskers who took out the broom.

Somers won the final three sets and left the John Jay gym a mess by scores of 14-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-23, 15-6.

Nonetheless, the teams would trade streaks to start game one. A kill by Megan Flynn gave John Jay a 3-0 lead, and five points later, Ella Ponterio’s ace had Somers up 5-3.

The Tuskers then served long, and John Jay was off. Ilirjana Ahmetaj killed from the middle to pull even, and Katherine Martin made the most of tight set by executing a dink for the lead. Not done yet, Flynn served three aces and a back row spike to up the edge to 12-5.

A wide serve put the ball back in Somers' hands. But the visitors gave it right back with an errant bump, and after two Ahmetaj kills, Flynn skimmed the floor with a diving bump that landed. Up 17-8 lead, Katherine Martin took it from there. Three kills and two aces opened up a 23-14 lead, and Bridget Pittman’s long spike gave the Wolves game one.

Game two had the teams trading streaks again, and height and hustle got Somers off the ground first. Caroline Conti followed her block up with a kill to get the early edge, Taylor Luks diving bump set up Maren Kellock for the kill, and Conti made it 6-1 on another block.

Bouncing back, John Jay went lefty righty with kills from Ahmetaj and southpaw specialist Zoe Dollar and pulled even with consecutive aces by Ava Calandros. Kellock’s kill then got the lead back at 7-6, but after two Conti aces, it was John Jay’s turn to run.

After Kellock hit long, Samantha Hufnagel’s tough dig led to a Rachel Lewis kill and John Jay followed with winning hits from Ahmetaj, Flynn and Hanna Martinsen to help build a 14-10 advantage.

Still, Somers kept close. Kills by Kellock and Arya Frye and a block by Juliana Spano made it 15-13, and after a Martin kill and a Flynn dink, Conti dinked to remain within two.

Even so, Jay looked like they would pull away when Martin’s kill made it 20-16. Instead, the Tuskers dug in. Luks' diving save got the ball up, and Conti put it away en route to tying the score on Kellock’s kill.

Ahmetaj responding with another kill had Somers hitting long twice, and a bump out and missed serve by Kellock gave John Jay a 2-0 lead.

Somers refused to shrink, though. Ponterio’s ace had the visitors up 4-0, and the Conti’s wall maintained the four point advantage with another block.

But John Jay wasn’t ready to go back on their heels. Flynn made another diving save and Ahmetaj knocked down the point on the way to tying at six. Of course, Conti did not go away. Consecutive kills regained a 9-8 lead, and several unforced errors gave Somers a 16-10 lead.

Conti kept John Jay in the distance with a kill at 18-14. But Martinsen and Dollar gave the Brewster big a taste of her own medicine. Up with the block, a 19-16 score kept the Wolves close and would spark the Wolves to a 22-20 edge.

A Flynn kill then had John Jay up 24-21, and the nets appeared to be coming down. Unfortunately, the Wolves couldn’t put the match away. Flynn hit long and into the net, and a Conti ace tied the score.

Flynn did regain a lead with another kill, but when Pittman’s strike was true and Hufnagel bumped the serve into the net, Somers got the game.

Now their trunks a-swingin, Somers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. So now it was John Jay’s turn to not turn tail. Dollar dinked on a tight set to get on the board, and consecutive blocks pulled the Wolves even

Front to back, three blocks by Ahmetaj and two aces by Dollar returned a 12-7 lead, and the Elephants seemed poached again. This especially when Martinsen’s dink looked like it found open space. Sorry, Reilly Pittman dug it out, and Conti muscled the kill. She then added another slam to three aces and the score was tied at 14.

A serve wide gave the Wolves a lead again so Somers staged a sister act. Reilly and Bridget making diving saves on subsequent spikes, John Jay could not beat the Tusker wall when the ball came back.

Not backing down, though, the score remained tied at 19 on a Dollar dink, but a miracle came next. Dollar teed off from the right, and Ponterio’s dig headed backwards. Looking bad for the Tuskers, the ball kicked hard off the retracted basketball hoop. Luks still got the ball up, and back the other way on the bump, Ahmetaj hit long for a 20-19 lead.

A Spano ace and an unforced error by Jay made it 22-19, and after the teams traded serves into the net, the score stood at 23-20. Flynn then dropped a dink in between two Lewis kills to tie at 23. Not enough, Conti got the kill, and Kellock closed the game with an ace.

All tied, the teams stayed knotted at four on Kellock’s dink. However, Somers took the next eight points, and there was no coming back this time