By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Marines' 25-12, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22 victory over Great Neck South on Friday allowed them to complete their first-ever undefeated Conference I-A regular season. They carry a 16-0 record in the playoffs, which begin this week with a pair of out-bracket matches.
Long Beach will be the No. 1 seed and host a yet-to-be-determined opponent in a second-round match on Wednesday, May 29 at 4:30 p.m. at Long Beach High School
"We never went undefeated in the conference before," coach Bill Gibson said. "We went 15-1 in 1994 when we won our last county championship. It's nice that we didn't lose a match, but it's not our ultimate goal. We're looking to win a county championship."
As has been the case throughout the season, the Marines received many fine performances in the regular-season finale. Senior outside hitter Vidal Torres had 14 kills, senior middle hitter Russell Butts had 10 kills and six blocks, and senior All-County setter Alan Cohn totaled 38 assists.
"I think we're deeper and more balanced than the team we had in '94," said Gibson, "and Alan is certainly the best setter we've ever had."
Cohn had 857 assists and led the Marines in serve percentage at .981.
"He's the catalyst," Gibson said. "Our overall team hitting percentage set a school record this season, and that wouldn't have happened without Alan."
Cohn has an abundance of targets at his disposal starting with Torres and junior David Yolinsky on the outside and 6-foot-3 players Butts and senior Albert Diaz in the middle. There are also seniors Stewart Ratzken and Danny Fischer, and junior Travis Brush.
"When we get in a tight situation, it seems like somebody different comes up big," Gibson said. "I never know who it's going to be. It really doesn't matter. As long as it's someone."
The Marines solidified the top seed for the playoffs with a four-game victory over Hewlett on May 13. Torres, who has a .450 hitting percentage, had four aces and 13 digs. Butts, who ranks second on the team in kills (221) and first in blocks had 15 kills in the 12-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 victory.
Hewlett's win in the first game snapped a 25-game winning streak for Long Beach. The Marines swept eight consecutive opponents from April 22-May 10.
"We've used a bunch of different starting lineups," said Gibson, who has coached the team for 10 years. "Mixing things up keeps everyone ready to play."
Floral Park fell victim to Long Beach last week as well. Yolinsky, who leads the team in kills (258), aces and digs, had 14 kills and Cohn had 39 assists to highlight the three-game sweep.
"The kids are confident and expectations are high," said Gibson, who counts on senior Justin Shapiro and junior Bryan Gergen to provide defensive sparks. "We've never been seeded first for the tournament before. When we won in '94, Mepham was the top seed."
The Marines were ousted in the quarterfinals a year ago by Herricks and have not reached the Final Four since 1998.
