East Rockaway moves over .500

The 2010 girls’ volleyball season figured to be one of transition for two-time defending Long Island champion East Rockaway. With the loss of Jalisa Barnes, the most prolific player in school history, the Lady Rocks were left with a talented group, but without a prototypical go-to player.

After a three-set sweep of Cold Spring Harbor last Friday, East Rockaway is a respectable 5-4 in Conference BC-I play. Junior Sarah Reid had seven aces, and Katie Barto added 12 aces and seven kills to lead the Lady Rocks to the 25-18, 25-16, 25-7 rout of the Lady Seahawks. Molly Bastow added three aces.

East Rockaway coach Gus Baco hopes the team can play a little more consistently in the latter part of the season.“ The past few seasons, we’ve more or less had an automatic kill with Jalisa,” Baco said. “We haven’t had consistency in our hitting, so it’s an area we need to get better in. I’m hoping we’ll be able to cut down on our mistakes as we close in on the playoffs.”

Barto has had a breakout season for East Rockaway. In a five-game victory over Island Trees on Oct. 13, Barto set a school mark by recording 47 assists. She added 10 aces and six kills to lead the Lady Rocks to a 24-26, 24-26, 25-17, 25-19, 25-16 win. 

Baco was thrilled for his junior setter. “Katie was driven to get this record, and she went out and got it,” Baco said. “Anytime she gets an assist, it means we’re scoring. Hopefully, she can go out and get 50 in a game in the future.” Barto broke Kaitlyn McCann’s record of 45 assists, which was set last season.

In the comeback victory over the Lady Bulldogs, Barto wasn’t the only one to shine. Junior outside hitter Rebecca Italiano had a career-high 22 kills and five aces. Senior middle hitter Taylor DeStefani had 12 kills and 10 aces, and junior Lindsey Dinowitz had 10 kills and two blocks as East Rockaway battled back after being down two games. Also making contributions for the Lady Rocks are junior libero Nikki Roeill and junior outside hitter MacKenzie Hecht. 

The Lady Rocks are in the middle of the pack in a conference that includes Floral Park, Mineola, North Shore, Seaford and Manhasset. The orange-and-black nearly pulled off an upset of first-place Floral Park when the teams met in September. But, it was the Lady Knights leaving the Rock Palace floor with a thrilling 25-17, 24-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21 win. 

If the Lady Rocks are to retain their Long Island Class C title, they will need to finish strong and carry momentum into the playoffs. Carle Place, which is 10-1 in Conference BC-II, figures to be East Rockaway’s opponent in the county final. 

East Rockaway will have revenge in mind Seaford comes to town on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 4:30 p.m. Seaford was a four-set winner when the teams met earlier in the month.