John Jay Falls to Patriots in Three Sets

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On Monday September 22, the volleyball team had the only game on the schedule and welcomed their namesake from East Fishkill. But for most of the afternoon, the call letters were all that matched up.

The Wolves lost 25-15 and 25-16 but did finally put up an exciting fight in losing the 25-23 finale.

After the teams stayed close at 4-3 in the opening set, Peyton Kellam dinked a tight set for a winner, Jaeda Lisi killed from the center and Samantha Seymour aced the Patriots to a 7-3 lead.

A block at the net by Julia Shepherd proved only a blip, though. Three aces by Seymour and a kill and a dink by Kellam helped build a 14-4 lead.

Seymour’s serve ending the run was still no reason to celebrate. Neither were a few Patriot miscues and a Meghan McHugh kill and Maria DeGaetano ace. Lulvera Rukaj blocked Emily Fulton’s dink to make it 18-9 and then added a kill to extend the lead to ten.

Too much ground to make up, East Fishkill took the game going away and picked up where they left off in game two. Kellam smoked three kills, and Bella Cabrera exhaled an ace to give the visitors a 6-2 lead.

Still, the Patriots were fallible. Three miscues and a Haley Hoskins ace tied the game at six So Kellam came to the rescue. A kill and three aces reestablished the dominance and paved the way for a 14-6 lead.

However, her windup from the back row didn’t land, and the near miss allowed Wolves to mount a comeback. Hellen Dollar followed with an ace, Layla Grassi registered a kill and a furious rally at 16-11 had the Wolves come out on top.

Down four, John Jay would close to 18-15 on a Grassi ace, but the Patriots just doubled down at the net. Kellam added two more kills, and Maddy Tokarz and Lisi finished off the set with knocks of their own.

Onto game three, East Fishkill didn’t let up. Lilliana Bojarczuk, Cabrera and Rukaj killed the Patriots to an 8-1 lead, and East Fishkill was bristling their broom.

Not so fast, a couple of Patriot errors broke the string and the Wolves finally got the better of Kellam. Shepherd put the hitter on the deck with a block, and a pair of aces by DeGaetano made it 9-7.

The deck now loaded on Kellam, Dollar rang up the big hitter too. Blocked again, Kellam pressed on nonetheless. She dropped an ace, and the Patriots maintained when Margaret Bojarczuk bumped the third ball to perfection. In no man’s land between the front and back row, the placement gave the Patriots a 12-9 lead.

The Wolves weren’t so impressed. DeGaetano answered with an ace, Emily Fulton delivered a kill and another exciting rally had the Wolves come out on top again.

14-13 in favor of the home team, the lead would grow. Dollar dropped a second ball dink, and two aces by Grassi opened up an 18-14 lead.

Another miscue made it 19-14, but the Patriots were done spilling blood. Two Wolf misses got Dutchess County going, and a subsequent ace and kill closed the gap to one.

19-18, the score was tied on a Dollar miss at the net, but the home team kept fighting. Dollar dropped an off speed spike, and the Patriots answered with two errors of their own.

21-21 when Seymour served out, the pivotal point was no surprise. Kellam windmilled another kill, followed with a block and then delivered what looked like the final blow.

Her kill making it 24-21, a long serve and long spike made it 24-23. So the Patriots once again showed they were stacked. Lisi took the set in the middle and finished off the Wolves.

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