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Light Rain and Breezy Long Beach reaches county final
Lady Marines to face defending champ South Side
Top-seeded Long Beach continued a flawless run through the Nassau Class A girls’ volleyball playoff tournament with a 25-19, 25-13, 25-20 sweep of No. 4 Manhasset in a semifinal matchup at home on Monday afternoon.
Senior captains Justine Smith (26 assists, eight service aces), Krista Heidenfelder (seven kills, five aces), and Dakota O’Neill (18 digs) led the way for the Lady Marines (16-1), who advanced to face defending county champion South Side in the final on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at SUNY-Old Westbury.
“We’re playing our best volleyball of the season,” Long Beach coach Kerri Rehnback said. “I’m happy with the intensity level we’ve brought to the playoffs. The girls know they have to step everything up a notch against South Side.”
Long Beach, which has never won a county title, is in the final for the first time since moving from Class AA to A prior to the 2011 campaign. Last year it came up short against South Side in the semifinals. This fall, the Lady Marines beat the Lady Cyclones in four sets in both regular-season meetings on the way to the Conference A-I crown.
“It’s very tough to beat a team three times,” Rehnback said. “The championship is something we really want, but we know it’s not going to come easy.
“Our girls have been in big matches before, but this next one will be the biggest,” she added.
The Lady Marines, who captured their first conference title since 1994, opened the playoffs with a 25-20, 25-9, 25-18 win over Conference A-3 winner Division behind O’Neill. In the quarterfinals they knocked off another conference champ, A-2 winner MacArthur, 25-15, 25-20, 25-18, with seniors Perri Steiner (six kills, seven blocks) and Mary McDonagh (eight kills) leading the way.
“As funny as it sounds being the top seed, I think we got the toughest half of the draw,” Rehnback said.
“We were down a few times, but always had control,” she added. “The girls maintained their composure, which is something we’ll have to do for sure against South Side.”
Long Beach’s depth and strong performance from the service line are two things Rehnback is hoping will make a difference against the Lady Cyclones, who beat Wantagh in the semis. “We’re a difficult team to defend because we have so many weapons,” said Rehnback, who has stuck with a rotation consisting of Smith, Heidenfelder, O’Neill, Steiner, McDonagh, Juliana Zaharias, Alex Price, Allison Amen and Gabby Ayzenberg.
