By TONY BELLISSIMO
Long Beach was as sharp as it has been all spring in capturing the Nassau Class AA boys’ volleyball championship last Friday night with a sweep of Port Washington at LIU-C.W. Post.
The top-seeded Marines, who fell to Plainview-JFK in the county final the past two years in a row, rolled to a 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 victory over the third-seeded Vikings for their first county title since 2003. Seniors Frank Ciccone (38 assists), Cody Kaiser (21 digs), Jon Lazare (12 kills), Tyler Still (nine kills), Luke Hamlet (seven kills), Mike Cuttler (eight digs) and Kyle Killarney (seven digs) led the way.
“I saw the look in the eyes of my players during warmups and I was able to stay calm throughout the match,” Long Beach coach Bill Gibson said. “They were really focused on winning. I was more of a fan than I was a coach tonight because they allowed me to just sit back and watch them execute.”
The Marines, who finished 17-0, swept Port Washington during the regular season as well. They cruised through the first two games last Friday, then outlasted the Vikings in an evenly played third game. “Everyone had a strong match tonight,” said Gibson, who has guided Long Beach to four county championships in 15 years. “It’s a big gym and a big stage, but I think it helped that a lot of guys experienced it last year.
“The last two years we didn’t play our best and lost to Plainview. This time we saved our best match of the season for when it mattered the most.”
Port Washington’s size was a concern heading into the final, but the Marines worked around it. “They’ve got two 6-7 kids who present some problems on a few rotations,” Gibson said. “But we run a fast offense and attacked spots where they couldn’t be a factor.”
Long Beach’s road to the championship went through Hicksville in the quarterfinal round and Bellmore-JFK in the semis. Both matches went the minimum three sets. Hamlet’s 16 kills and Lazare’s 11 kills and four aces highlighted a 25-12, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Hicksville on May 22 and Ciccone (42 assists) and Still (nine kills, six digs, four blocks and three aces) starred in a 25-21, 25-19, 25-19 win over Bellmore-JFK.
“The kids really trusted each other,” Gibson said. “Whenever they did make mistakes, they didn’t panic. They just kept battling.”
Comments about this story? tbellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
Photos By Fred Koph/Herald
