Somers Goes the Distance on Senior Night

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On Thursday October 9, Somers hosted Eastchester and completely wiped out the Eagles in the first set. So an easy afternoon it appeared to be on Senior Night. But quick work doesn’t align with how much this team likes to play, according to Shari Marrero. “Our favorite thing about volleyball, that’s dragging out every match to five sets,” she joked, and the girl with the game winner was just as funny about why she adamantly called for the deciding set.

“I really wanted to get out of here and go eat,” Maegan Brown quipped, and her kill rang the dinner bell to a thrilling 25-7, 21-25, 13-25, 25-19, 15-11 victory.

Rising early, set one was like breakfast in bed, and Abby Babboni took the first serving. She slammed a kill from the middle, and the Tuskers were on their way.

Katie Kourakos dealt an ace, and after Claire Cronin made a diving save at the net, she got up and knocked a kill for a 4-0 lead.

Adding one more for five straight, Cronin let the rest of the front line get into the act. Maegan Brown hit a whirlwind from the left, and Alivia Donaldson matched her from the right.

A 10-1 lead resulting, Somers continued to pour it on. Brown added three kills to a pair of aces from Svea Almquist, and the Tuskers cruised home on the strength of blasts by Babboni, Cronin and Olivia Tran.

An ace by Kourakos and a kill by Brown looked like more of the same to open set two. Instead, the Eastchester front line arrived. Ariana Sejdiu killed from the middle twice and pulled her team even. She was joined by Melissa Pettita and Mary Lawlor and Eastchester took the lead for good at 15-14.

The same suspects didn’t let up either. Eastchester jumped out to a 10-3 lead and won easily by a margin of 12. So Coach Massi Angooti intervened. “I told them we are connected. Everything is teamwork. We need to stay together and stay united,” she said.

Kourakos responded by opening with a pair of aces, but the Eagles came on the same bus and had togetherness of their own. They scored five straight on kills by Pettita and Ava Carlotta, and Juliet Perino dropped two aces.

Babboni broke the string, and a tie was next. It just took forever. Eastchester made three amazing saves before Kourakos found open space with a second ball push, and two more amazing Eastchester saves finally had Tran doing the same thing to the back corner.

Now, Pettita broke the string. Her kill gave Eastchester a one point lead until Tran put her foot down. She made two diving digs to set up a Brown kill, and then delivered an ace for a 7-6 lead.

Eastchester didn’t falter, though. Pettita answered with another kill and sparked her team to a 13-9 lead.

Forced to keep pace, Ella Barron killed from the center and smoked an ace. Next, Kourakos added a kill, and Babboni rose with a block.

16-13, Kourakos took her turn igniting. She found the floor with a second ball dink and got Somers to within one with an ace. Cronin added another kill and Kourakos’ ace meant the Tuskers would not trail the rest of the way.

Two consecutive kills by Pettita did tie but a rally at 19-18 set the final tone. Babboni providing the capper, Cronin watched in awe. “She hits the ball straight down,” said the junior.

Still, the opportunity wouldn’t have been there without two more dives by Tran. “She’s like a ‘U,’ she bends in half,” boasted Cronin.

Straight up, Cronin aced for a 21-18 lead, and Kourakos finished the set by dropping an off speed kill and an ace.

15 points to go, Eastchester got on the board first with a Camilla Quintero kill but gave it right back when Lawlor hit into the net.

Kourakos followed with two aces, and Somers jumped out 4-2 on two more Eastchester mishits. Babboni then added one more to the lead on a dink and a kill, and the Tuskers were on their way.

Help from Pettita, she missed two hits out of three, and the lead extended to 9-5 on a Kourakos push.

Cronin and Babboni added kills and Babboni made the best of a bad set. Tight and off target, she deflected the ball backwards, and Somers was three points away.

A Kourakos ace got Somers closer, and Babboni’s block put Brown in position to speak up. “I think that was me who called for the ball,” she dropped the mic, and Somers moved to 10-2.

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