Thursday, November 12, 2026
As Plainedge's Angelina Puglisi hammered down the championship-winning kill in the fifth and deciding set, pandemonium broke loose at Hauppauge High School.
Players and fans stormed the volleyball court. Plainedge captured its first-ever Long Island girls volleyball championship in a heart-stopping five-set win over Sayville after the Red Devils had fought off three match points on Tuesday afternoon.
Plainedge had already made history by winning the program's the first-ever Nassau County title on Sunday over Mineola. Now it placed a giant cherry on top of its season with a thriller for the ages, winning the deciding set over Sayville 19-17.
"It's an incredible accomplishment and they should be really proud,'' Plainedge coach Colin Fratrik said. "Everyone is completely drained - players, coaches fans, it was extremely taxing game emotionally.''
Puglisi spoke in a hoarse voice about the crazy match in which the Red Devils faced its first match point at 14-15. "I lost my voice after all the yelling,'' Puglisi said.
An outside hitter, Puglisi is only 5-foot-4 but as she says, "I can get up there, trust me.''
"It felt so amazing,'' added Puglisi, who also collected 16 digs. "I'm so grateful the team trusted me in that moment to get that for them, We worked so hard all season to get to this point. It's as special a group of girls we've ever seen.''
On Wednesday, the players gathered to watch a livestream of a state-regional match, Wallkill-Rye, as Plainedge faces the winner Saturday.
The beat goes on after last season's bitter ending when Plainedge lost in the Nassau Class A finals to eventual state champion South Side.
"Last year, we were upset we didn't get the job done,'' Puglisi said. "We came back hungrier and stronger. We wanted it ten times more. We're all best friends and lift each other up. We work well under pressure. That makes us different than other teams."
Fratrik is on an historic run in North Massapequa. His Plainedge baseball team won the Long Island Class A title last spring. "This team took the next step and learned from it,'' Fratrik said. "Everyone went crazy. It was a great moment.''
Plainedge won the first and third sets by an identical 25-21 score, to lead 2-1 before Sayville railed for a 25-15 fourth-set rout, bringing on a fifth set.
"Sayville was incredible – either team could've won,'' Fratrik said. "It came down to a play or two. You're always concerned going to a fifth set after scoring 15 points but I have confidence in this team all year long. They rose to every single occasional all year.''
Plainedge is a balanced group as multiple girls are capable of leading the team in kills. Peyton Wise led Plainedge with 14. Ava Nitsch notched 12 kills, Puglisi and Kennedy Murnane each had 10 and Mia Accatino 7.
However the match’s star was on defense with senior libero Ava Gandolfo, who had 8 digs and an ace. The ace was significant because it was the first time all season Gandolfo served. Struggling, Plainedge needed a service jolt.
"It felt good to come in and step up for my team and a reminder to myself I could do this,'' Gandolfo said.
"She played the best game of her career,'' added Fratrik.
Savannah Speicher also had a big defensive outing with 14 digs.
"It's the happiest I've ever been,'' Gandolfo said. "We're on such a high right now. It felt so good to win such a tight match in the fifth set.''
