By:TONY BELLISSIMO
Despite holding the lead in every game of its quarterfinal playoff match against visiting Herricks last Wednesday, the third-seeded Long Beach boys volleyball team was swept out of the Nassau Class A tournament 15-13, 15-10, 15-10.
"They're playing a lot better than they were earlier in the season and they're playing a lot better than we are right now," Marines coach Bill Gibson said. "It was a tough draw to get a team like that in the quarterfinals. What it came down to is we didn't serve well and we didn't score enough points at the net."
Long Beach, which finished 13-4 overall, had only one service ace against 13 service errors. Sophomore All-County setter Alan Cohn had 38 assists, while All-Conference selections David Yolinsky (11 kills, 11 digs) and Stewart Ratzken (14 digs) did all they could to keep the Marines close.
"We were ahead in every game and we had chances to get it done," Gibson said. "We wanted to reach the Final Four and we had a good season. But in the end it didn't turn out the way we wanted."
The Marines swept Port Washington in the second round, 15-9-15-9, 15-2, behind Cohn's 47 assists and junior All-County hitter Vidal Torres' 16 kills.
Cohn, who had over 1,000 assists this spring and is the program's all-time leader in that category, and Torres head a solid group of returnees that should have Long Beach back in the title chase in 2002. Yolinsky, Ratzken and Russell Butts also return. Key losses are All-County hitter Jonadam Belvedere, Milton Yepez and Brad Goldstein.
"Not that is means anything, but we'll probably be seeded first or second next year because of what we have coming back," Gibson said. "Hopefully the team learned from this season that it takes more than talent to win. It takes a lot of hard work as well."
