Lady Jets spiking in October

The regular season is winding down and East Meadow is jockeying for position on the volleyball court after winning consecutive matches over Syosset (25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22) last Friday and Farmingdale (25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 22-25, 25-22) on Oct. 12.

The Lady Jets (6-4 overall, 5-4 in Conference AA-I) entered the week sandwiched in third place between Hicksville and Farmingdale. “It’s hard to tell that we have a lot of new players,” coach Pat Burnside said of having to replace five starters yet staying in position to earn a playoff berth.

“We had four sophomores moved up and a couple of juniors moved up. We only had five returning players. This is a fun group to coach and the girls are working hard.”

Senior setter Becky Syers, coming off a 27-assist, five-dig performance in the four-set win over the Lady Braves, is in many ways, the key for East Meadow. A strong server and passer with outstanding court awareness, she’s teamed with junior middle hitter Jennifer Gundrum to form an imposing offensive duo. Gundrum set a career-high with 23 kills against the Lady Dalers and followed that up with 18 more against Syosset, including four blocks and a pair of aces. Senior Samantha Lucchi has also made her fair share of big plays, including two blocks in the final game against Farmingdale. Junior Taylor Conti and sophomore Kerri Shapiro (13 kills against the Lady Dalers) are bookends at outside hitter with sophomore Rebecca Alzfan also part of the rotation.

Burnside points to much-improved play on the defensive side of the floor — specifically the initial hit — as one of the main reasons for the strong play at the net. “We’re definitely passing to the target,” she said. “If we can get a good pass to Becky, she can set it up.”

Sophomore Marrol Cajoles, the libero, is one part of the backline defense that also includes senior Christie Lee and Taylor Polinice and sophomore Julianna Natalie. “[Christie] has made great strides on defense and is a solid passer,” Burnside said.