John Jay Storms Back for Five Set Victory over Lakeland

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On Tuesday October 22, John Jay traveled to Lakeland and took aim at keeping the Wolf train rolling. At the outset, though, the express was definitely not running. “It’s so easy to get down in a position like that, and say, I guess we don’t have it tonight,” said Coach Tom Rizzotti of the 2-0 game deficit. But this team’s real itinerary is nonstop, and their true form eventually took hold.

John Jay won the next three games and had Rizzotti beaming. “It really is an amazing group of young women,” he assured.

Otherwise, the match started somewhat innocuously. A couple of missed John Jay bumps on the serve didn’t seem worrisome. That is until Sophia Cruz unleashed the first Hornet whirlwind.

She was followed by Kelly Mallon and Tatiana Aquart kills, and a 9-4 lead ensued. Jaime Bartley-Cohen did answer and kept John Jay close with a kill to make it 15-12. However, the Hornet front line would not relent and took game one by a score of 25-18.

In game two, John Jay did get an early lead on another Bartley-Cohen slam, but more of the same was on the way. The triple threat kept reigning down, and Jay had no umbrellas to stop the onslaught.

A 25-16 defeat on the board, the girls had to get the upper hand and fast. Quick on the draw and the toes, Bartley-Cohen killed for a 2-0 lead, and Olivia Casabona’s diving save landed on the other side for a 3-1 lead.

Still, aces by Emily Imbrogno ace and Cruz prevented separation, and a kill by Mallon gave Lakeland a 7-5 lead. So expediency was again paramount for John Jay, and this time Ilirijana Ahmetaj played complement to more of Casabona ground game. After the hitter’s winning block, another dive by the libero set up Hanna Martinsen’s dink.

Tied at eight, now it was Lakeland who had trouble going blow for blow, and Bartley-Cohen began the pummeling. Two consecutive kills yielded a 10-8 lead, and two more added to four Riley Buckingham aces made it 18-11.

Upping to 20-11, doubt arose when Martisen’s errant dink pulled Lakeland to within 20-15. No problem, Casabona hydroplaned the hardwood again, and the resulting winner had Rizzotti praising the Wolf’s refusal to talk with an inside voice. “We talk all the time about playing with want, playing with desire. But her actions on the court don’t speak that. They shout want. They shout, I’m not going to let my team lose,” he explained.

The tone clearly set at 22-16, Lakeland lent a hand with several miscues, and the game three 25-19 victory set the stage for game four. All the heavy weights fully engaged, neither team was giving ground.

After Lakeland won a furious rally on the first point, Hellen Dollar stood tall on the block, and Ahmetaj killed from the center for a 3-1 lead.

Not for long, John Jay followed with a few miscues, and Cruz was in no mood to oblige any further. She dealt two aces and had the Hornets up 6-3.

Then Cruz gave back with a serve into the net, and after Mallon followed suit on a failed slam, Ahmetaj hit the trifecta. Three kills gave John Jay a 10-7 lead, and the Wolves were howling.

No choice for Lakeland but to dig in, Ahmetaj threw a curve. Taking the Dollar set, the senior took a little off her hit, and the deception dropped for an 11-8 lead.

A Casabona ace added one more, and Bartley-Cohen’s first hit kill on a long Lakeland bump screamed too. Now 14-10, the advantage became five on a Martinsen dink from the middle, and a double wall block by Dollar and the same next door neighbor.

Still, Lakeland fought back. An ace by Cruz and a kill from Aquart tied the score at 17, and John Jay wasn’t above receiving a boost. On the down low again, Casabona had another diving dig, and Ahmetaj’s subsequent kill pulled out the splinters.

Up 18-17, Buckingham stayed up right and paved the way for a two point lead. She met Mallon’s hit head on, and the drop had the Wolves five points away.

Another Casabona save set up a 21-18 lead, and after a Maria DeGaetano ace, Bartley-Cohen delivered the 25-20 game with three kills.

The big hitter didn’t let up either, and as usual, neither did her decibel level at the moment of truth. “She screams, I want the ball,” Dollar clarified.

Two winning pushes and a kill to give John Jay a 3-1 lead, selfishness is the last thing that permeates the field. “I just love it,” Dollar assured. “It gives me so much energy. It gives the team so much energy and fire.”

But Lakeland wasn’t extinguished just yet. Mellon killed, and the Hornets pulled even on a pair of John Jay errors.

Even so, the momentum was just too much. Dollar killed on a second ball bump, Julia Shepherd dinked and blocked for an 8-5 lead, and Bartley-Cohen brought the noise with yet another kill.

Timeout called, DeGaetano didn’t let the ruckus subside. On serve, three aces built a commanding 13-5 lead and wasn’t out of character, according to the coach. “She is clutch. Everything about her is focused, and she doesn’t let the moment get bigger than her,” asserted Rizzotti.

From there, Lakeland went quietly, but following suit for Rizzotti wasn’t so easy. “I am so proud of my girls,” he concluded.