John Jay Thrills their Way to Finals

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On Thursday November 7, top seeded John Jay faced Ardsley in the semifinal round and were on track by winning the first set. But Ardsley won the next two, so Coach Tom Rizzotti offered some simple math to inspire his girls. “I asked them how many sets does it take to win a match,” he clarified, and with Ardsley still one shy, the Wolves returned with only addition on their minds.

“They came back out fired up,” said the coach, and John Jay completed the 25-21, 25-27, 24-26, 25-18, 15-7 victory.

The early fire began with Ardsley, though, and the flames reached high. Masha Stern put back Jaime Bartley-Cohen, Heather Rexon stuffed Ilirijana Ahmetaj at 2-2 and then on the same point, the front line got three on Ahmetaj for a 5-3 game.

Then the back row eating up her next wallop, the 6-3 deficit might have rattled the big hitting Wolf, and she misfired into the net. So Rizzotti called for time and kept it simple. “I told them every team is good from here on out, and every team is going to have a block,” he conveyed.

Still, they talked adjustments, but the girls didn’t immediately engage the tweaks. Hellen Dollar slyly dropped a second ball dink, Ahmetaj got a block of her own and then opted for the dink. Back in business, Ahmetaj now applied the reset and nailed Olivia Casabona’s back set.

All even at seven, Sophie Young and Ahmetaj traded kills, and Bartley-Cohen got back into the fray. Only she evened up with her patented push, and the game continued to go back and forth.

Bartley-Cohen drew John Jay even at 11, and with the help of a Riley Buckingham ace, she then put the Wolves ahead with another kill.

14-13, Ardsley wasn’t going away. First Emily Nudelman dropped a softball and Stern changed speeds on the kill for a 16-15 lead.

John Jay was undeterred, though. Dollar turned back Stern, and after the Panther hit long, Ahmetaj was on target for an 18-16 advantage.

Separation came next, and Julia Shepherd’s block was just business as usual. “My job is to be everywhere every single time - even if the ball isn’t going to come to me,” said the middle hitter.

A 21-18 game, Bartley gave back and dished out. She blocked Serena Emanuele for a 23-19 lead and closed set one with a pair of kills.

Game two was more of the same, and at the halfway point, the teams put on a show. One of many, First Stern sent Casabona diving to the floor, and the up gave Dollar a hit. Blocked, Barley-Cohen reacted to the sideline for a one handed save and got upright for the hit. Antonella Lanza then got the tip and dove to cover the fast falling rock. Another up, Stern’s deep dink landed just wide, and after the bleachers caught their collective breaths, John Jay led 13-12.

The teams traded kills for a 14-14 game, and Casabona literally left both teams up in the air with another diving save. The ball skied high, and didn’t come down when it got stuck in the ceiling.

Ahmetaj and Dollar waiting below, the teams just picked up where they left off. Saves all around until Hanna Martinsen hit wide. Miscues to follow on both sides, Ahmetaj got the game right with a kill to tie at 17, and Barley-Cohen knocked two in a row for a 22-21 lead.

John Jay maintained the margin with a pair of blocks by Dollar and a kill by Ahmetaj. Unfortunately, kills by Emanuele and Young and a block by Morgan Macri gave Ardsley a 25-23 win.

All even, John Jay didn’t come out that way. Bartley-Cohen killed for a 1-1 game, Ahmetaj added two kills and a block, and Casabona stopped everyone’s heart with more scraps to her knees. She dug out a Stern kill, and on the way back, the Ardsley hitter was wide.

In turn, Martisen and Ahmetaj double walled for a 6-1 lead, and Buckingham added an ace. Up six, Ahmetaj double dinked to keep Ardsley at a 9-4 distance, but the two seed refused to stay in the rear view.

They pulled even at ten on a spike wide by Ahmetaj and took a 13-11 lead on an Emanuele dink. In response, Shepherd returned the favor, and Ahmetaj would take note. At 16-16, she dropped a dink and took a bit off her next two kills for a 19-16 lead.

The lead would grow to 21-16 on a Shepherd block and another Ahmetaj kill. No die in the visitors, Ardsley killed and blocked their to eight of the next 11 points.

So the 26-24 loss put Rizzotti on his soap box, and the girls began washing up with Bartley-Cohen. With her standard fierce look, the senior delivered three kills in a row and led 3-1.

Still, Ardsley continued the slugfest and took a 6-4 lead on a twin killing from Stern. At the same time, Casabona and Buckingham were twice the price too. Both crashing to the floor for saves, Dollar allowed Ahmetaj to bring home the money with a kill from the right.

Alive and kicking, the front line duo jingled their change on the next point. First Dollar got the block on the right, and then on the left, Ahmetaj secured a 7-6 advantage on her block.

A lead the Wolves would not relinquish, Casabona gave everyone a breather with a pair of aces, and the lead would grow to 13-8 on a Shepherd block.

Unfortunately, three consecutive Jay miscues allowed Ardsley to hang around. No problem, the Wolves didn’t cower, and the two alphas kept their prey guessing. A dink for Ahmetaj and a kill for Bartley-Cohen made for a 15-11 lead, and Martisen maintained the margin by blocking for a 17-13 game.

Not enough yet, Ardsley closed to within two again, but the front line remained on standby. One kill for Bartley-Cohen, two for Ahmetaj and a block for Martinsen built a 21-16 lead.

No comeback this time, Bartley-Cohen ended the 25-18 game with another kill, and she didn’t need a restart after intermission. Two push points and a kill added to a Buckingham ace gave John Jay a 5-0 lead.

The new purple bleachers rocking, the sway did slow on Buckingham’s long serve, and Bartley-Cohen’s barely long push. So Dollar did a reset. Second ball, she slipped another into no man’s land, and 6-2 was the score.

Then a line ball on Ahmetaj’s hit almost blew the roof. That is until the call was overruled by the umpire. Ardsley didn’t take advantage, though. The serve sailed long, and Ahmetaj piled on with a kill.

8-3, the hitter knocked another, and the Ardsley back line opted to look Buckingham’s serve out of bounds. Sorry, the ball landed in, and the Wolves were howling.

Five points away, Ardsley further obliged with a long serve and spike into the net, and the score climbed to 13-6 on two aces by Ahmetaj. Still, Ardsley wasn’t done. Lanza dropped her own second ball dink, and Bartley-Cohen’s hit into the net made it 13-7.

Victory on hold, the point of the evening felt like an eternity, and the sands of time went through Bartley-Cohen. Seven times, she lined up for the hit, and dives and digs everywhere, Ardsley got every single one.

The last hit did send the bump forward, but out of bounds next to the scorer’s table was the trajectory. The save made by Emanuele, Lanza mishit into the net.

The entire arena gassed, Rizzotti considered putting the celebration on hold. “I asked Jaime if she needed a timeout,” he revealed.

Maybe a little out of breath, the hero didn’t mince words. “Nope, let’s finish this,” Rizzotti relayed.

In the end, it was the coach who kept the words to a minimum . “They are amazing,” he concluded. “I’m very proud of the girls.”