Seaford rallies for county title

Lady Vikings win fifth crown in six years

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Nearly two weeks after rallying past Mineola to complete a perfect regular season, Seaford was in a similar predicament, trailing two sets to one, on a much bigger stage attempting to defend its Nassau Class B girls’ volleyball championship at SUNY-Old Westbury on Nov. 9.

“We weren’t playing poorly,” Seaford senior hitter Sophie Dandola said. “We just needed to calm down and stay composed. Going into the fourth set, I got the girls together and said, ‘We need to give it our all and do our jobs.’”

Behind a well-balanced effort led by Dandola (14 kills, 22 digs), Ally Palermo (41 digs), Carmina Agtuca (13 kills, 17 digs), Ashley Soliwoda (14 kills, five blocks) and setter Melanie Cascio (25 assists), the top-seeded Lady Vikings rallied to win the last two sets and their fifth county title in six years, 25-16, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, before an enthusiastic crowd of 750.

“We knew Mineola was going to provide great competition,” Dandola said. “They played us tough during the regular season and just beat South Side in the semifinals.

“We practiced hard all week and we felt it might go five,” she added. “I think what sets us apart from most teams is our chemistry. It’s great on and off the court.”

The roller-coaster ride was a little too close for comfort for Seaford coach Marie Savage, who seemingly wore every point over the last two sets on her sleeve. “I didn’t breathe easy until the final point,” she said. “It was an intense and exciting match.

“I thought after how we played in the first set, we’d keep rolling,” she added. “But we weren’t hitting consistently enough and our blocking was off. Mineola got its hitting going and we had no choice, but to hit back. I’m proud of how the girls answered.”

Third-seeded Mineola (15-4) attacked mostly from the outside with talented hitters Colette Maloney (15 kills) and Sam Schroeder (12) taking turns smashing passes from Tori Ondris. The Lady Mustangs trailed 18-17 in the second set before rallying with some help from Serena Berger, who had two key kills. A service ace by Vickie Venus evened the match.

Mineola fell behind 14-8 in the third set before rallying to regain momentum. Caroline Perri had a five-point service turn, including three aces, and suddenly Seaford’s perfect season was one set away from ending. “We were prepared for a long night,” Palermo said.

The Lady Vikings (18-0) pulled away to lead 20-12 in the fourth set behind Dandola’s four kills and never let Mineola get closer than four. The decisive fifth set was tied at 11 when Seaford ripped off four points —Soliwoda, Dandola, Jaclyn Grzelaczyk and Palermo — to take command.

“We knew we had to dig deep into our hearts,” said Palermo, who spent most of the match diving all over the floor to keep the ball in play. “We won it all last year and we wanted to experience that feeling again.”