John Jay Takes Section One Title

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After defeating Ardsley in a five set marathon on Thursday November 7, John Jay won a berth in the finals at the Westchester County Center on Sunday, and Lakeland stood in their way. One versus six, the previous encounter betrayed the numbers. The first two sets to Lakeland, John Jay kept their heads up and swept the final three. So when John Jay pulled the reverse and won the first two, the same possibility had to creep in. But as usual, Coach Rizzotti stayed the course.

“The most important point is the next point, and it doesn’t matter what already happened. You also can’t look ahead or someone is going to pass you,” Coach Rizzotti, and his girls followed suit by sweeping to the Section One title.

Far from easy, Lakeland’s early 3-1 lead quickly made the point. Of course, the memory was short, and John Jay countered with their twin towers. Ilirijana Ahmetaj hammered Olivia Casabona’s set and Jaime Bartley-Cohen pulled her team even at five by turning back Tatiana Aquart’s hit.

Back and forth, John Jay kept up on the ricochet and bee-line. After Hellen Dollar’s block had the bottom drop out, Bartley-Cohen’s quick hands led to an errant Lakeland bump, and Casabona’s dig on Aquart set Dollar up for a winning dink.

10-10, Lakeland was unfazed. Sophie Cruz answered with a kill, and the Hornets took a 12-10 lead on Hanna Martinsen’s misfire.

Separation was not to be, though, and Casabona and Dollar made sure by silently owning the airwaves. Often trading sets without the benefit of verbal communication, Rizzotti explained. “It’s a lot of time. It’s a lot of trust,” he said, and two Ahmetaj kills padded the stats of both to give John Jay a 13-12 lead.

This gave John Jay the chance to create some distance, and they took it. Ahmetaj dealt an ace, Julia Shepherd blocked a long Lakeland bump, and Bartley-Cohen’s kill made it 17-14.

Not done, Casabona’s anticipation on another Cruz slam showed she wasn’t just in Dollar’s head. “Her volleyball IQ is off the charts. The way she sees the game is so different than almost any other girl out there. She sees things before they happen,” said Rizzotti, and her dig set Bartley-Cohen up for the kill.

18-15 became 19-15 when Lakeland crashed the net, and a pair of Martisen dinks maintained the four point lead at 21-17. But there was still work to do, and with the help of couple of errors, Cruz’s kill made it 21-20..

Time out called, John Jay reset and added a wrinkle. Bookending a Dollar ace, Ahmetaj dropped two top spin rolls, and smoothly explained the game plan. “We knew the roll would be crucial in this game,” said the senior.

Securing a 25-21 victory, Ahmetaj stayed in the rear to get her team started. She took a back row set and slammed a winner.

A 2-0 lead, Lakeland kept up by changing speeds. Cruz hit hard first and then played softball to tie the game at three. The cue taken, Ahmetaj went off speed to regain the lead, and the changeup sent Casabona off and running. Only standing still, she served four straight aces and gave the Wolves a 9-3 lead.

Unfortunately, John Jay came back down to Earth. Dollar hit long, a long bump set Aquart up for a first ball kill, and Riley Buckingham missed judged Taryn Bruno’s serve. Well inside the line, the three point deficit soon turned into a tie. Kelly Mellon’s kill, dinks from Cruz and Georgia Costa, and an ace by Sofia Wilder made for a 12-12 game.

Then the teams exchanged three point runs. Buckingham and Casabona both chased down the second ball to set up a Bartley-Cohen doubleheader, and completing the trifecta, Lakeland got caught in a miscommunication. Back around, Buckingham served long, Caelyn Faison blocked Bartley-Cohen twice on the same sequence, and Aquart crushed a middle hit.

So not giving ground, Lakeland went on Cruz control. Three kills and the Hornets jumped out to a 22-17 lead.

An out serve opened the door, though, and Ahmetaj accepted the invite. The hitter responded with two kills, and Jay trailed 23-21. Her serve into the net almost erased the clutch, but Lakeland gave right back with their own missed serve.

The trade completed, the Wolves played both sides of the ball. Bartley-Cohen killed and then joined Martisen on the block.

24-24, the momentum was short lived. Faison took the set and regained the lead with the kill. Now, it was John Jay’s turn to dig in. Bartley-Cohen went off speed with her kill, and Buckingham followed with an ace.

A point to go, Buckingham served just long but the Wolves were done playing. Bartley-Cohen killed first, and Ahmetaj dropped another roll for a 28-26 win.

25 points for the championship, Lakeland didn’t initially oblige. Aquart bumped a winner and knocked a kill, and Cruz swung the Hornets to a 4-1 lead.

Of course, John Jay was undeterred. Martisen dropped an outside hit, Ahmetaj sliced a winner from the other side, and without her normal upward gaze, Dollar started the beginning of the end. She popped three serves over, and the shortfalls returned aces in triplicate.

Still, Cruz tied the game at six, but Maria DeGaetano kept the Hornet from reusing her stinger. The sophomore dug out the hit, and Ahmetaj was primed to nail on Dollar’s set.

Money again, John Jay would not trail again, and the lead grew to 10-7 on a pair of Bartley-Cohen whirlwinds and an Ahmetaj ace. Timeout for Lakeland, the pause did yield a Faison kill but Bartley-Cohen remained full steam ahead. She killed first and then blocked for a four point lead.

Winning in the air, John Jay temporarily deflated. A couple balls of errors cut the lead in half, and a stop was needed. “Jaime and Ilirijana get the most kills, but it’s the little things that are important,” said Dollar, and among the small-ball was another winning dink by Martinsen.

Two straight Lakeland points threatened again, but that was the last hoorah. Dollar blocked to start the run, Ahmetaj found an empty back corner on the push, and DeGaetano aced the Wolves to a 16-12 lead.

Nine points to go, Ahmetaj put a roll on again, and then Shepherd put a little mustard on her push. “It’s called a power tip,” said the middle hitter. “So this team in its defensive formation, the middles are up, so right behind the attack those corners are open.”

19-13, Casabona put Lakeland on the edge with an ace that hit the line, and Bartley-Cohen gave a nasty push with three more kills. 24 points in the books, Megan McHugh did the rest. “Most of the time at the end of the game, it’s my turn to serve, and Rizz tells me what I have to do,” said the junior.

Another short ball, it dropped, and when the gold trophy went up in the air, Bartley-Cohen put the coach on a pedestal. “It was so important to win for him. He put so much into this team, and his last season, he deserves it,” the captain concluded.