Lady Cyclones advance in playoffs

South Side coach Cheryl Scalice sensed her players’ nerves when they opened the Nassau Class A girls’ volleyball playoffs with a first-round home match against Plainedge last Saturday afternoon.

“I could see in their eyes they were a little nervous,” Scalice said. “We hadn’t seen Plainedge at all this year and winning the first game settled us down. We cleaned up some early mistakes and played well.”

The second-seeded Lady Cyclones swept into the quarterfinals with a 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 victory over the 15th–seeded Lady Red Devils. Senior middle hitter Grace Healey had 10 kills and four blocks, junior setter Emma Paris had 15 assists, and junior Deanna Mostowfi totaled 10 digs.

“The girls have high hopes and expectations for themselves,” Scalice said. “They’ve done a good job of staying grounded and not getting ahead of themselves. We just have to worry about Long Beach next and nothing else.”

If South Side (12-3 overall) can get past Long Beach, the No. 7 seed, in the quarterfinals it would likely meet third-seeded Kennedy in a semifinal this Friday at Clarke High School at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Cyclones beat Long Beach twice during the regular season and split with Kennedy.

“We have a good shot to get by Long Beach, but they’re healthy for the first time in a while so it’s not going to be easy,” Scalice said. “We beat Kennedy the second time we met and also in a tournament, so if we both get to Friday it should be an exciting match.”

On the other side of the bracket sits No. 1 seed and defending county champion Wantagh, which beat South Side twice and took six of seven sets in the process. “We got to the semifinals last year and most of the girls experienced what that’s like,” Scalice said. “We’ve been battling the best teams in the county all year long and doing well.”