Thursday, October 1, 2026
Uniondale girls’ volleyball celebrated the end of an era when the Knights took the court against East Meadow for their Senior Game on Tuesday evening.
Though they are out of the playoff hunt with a 7-5 record, coach Dan Splendore said that parting ways with this group of six seniors will be one of the hardest farewells of his career.
“It's been a little down these last couple years, but this group is the perfect example of what I envisioned as a team,” Splendore said. “We eat meals together. We have group chats together. We chat. We really are a team.”
Splendore said Uniondale has had a habit of saving its best performances for better competition. The Knights remain the only team to have successfully taken a set against undefeated rival Baldwin. On Sept. 19, they found a more natural opponent in East Meadow but came up short in three straight sets after winning the first two.
“We want our revenge against East Meadow,” Splendore said. “We were up two sets and we lost in five, so I know that was a killer for our team. And I think they would take a lot of pride in knowing that they were able to beat East Meadow.”
Senior Zahara Saintyl, a volleyball and basketball star during her high school career, has been a bright contributor again in her final year and has led the Knights in kills in each game in which she has played. In a 3-2 victory over Hicksville on Oct. 7, she racked up a whopping 16 with five digs, two blocks and four aces.
No volleyball team is secure without building around its star, however, and as several opponents have begun to key in on Saintyl, it has allowed others to step up in big moments.
Senior Aaliyah Rose has managed to make her presence known from all points on the floor. In a straight-sit victory over Valley Stream Central on Oct. 15, Rose connected for nine aces. Two weeks earlier, she commanded the front line alongside Saintyl with five kills in a 3-0 win over Hempstead on Sept. 29.
Seniors Kylie Thompson and Cindy Blanco may be confined to supporting roles on paper, but their contributions on the floor for Uniondale have been overwhelming. As setter, Thompson has led the Knights in assists in every match in which she has played. In her one notable absence against Westbury on Sept. 11, senior Amaya Brier and junior Melanie Saravia seamlessly stepped into her role.
As libero, Blanco’s presence is not typically felt on the score sheet unless the defense is truly tested. In Uniondale’s hard-fought defeat to East Meadow last time, Blanco led the Knights with 16 digs, just ahead of Thompson with 15 and Saintyl with 14. Defensive specialist Liz Melgar, the last of Uniondale’s six seniors, also made a season-high eight digs that day.
Uniondale seems to have a bright future ahead, as sophomore Kelsey Green seems poised to take over as a supremely talented hitter in her junior year. But for Splendore, who has coached many of the seniors since eighth grade and shaped the program around them, the future can wait a little while longer.
