Mepham nearing conference crown

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Mepham girls’ volleyball has been a tour de force this season, winning all 11 matches it has played. In six of those wins the Lady Pirates swept their opponent, and only twice, were they pushed to a decisive fifth set.

The key to their overwhelming success, said coach Mike Williams, has been his players’ mental toughness and work ethic. “All the girls work hard and they play for each other,” he said. “We have talented girls who put up stats, but everybody contributes. It’s a whole team effort.”

Williams learned early on what his team was made of when it faced a challenging Great Neck South squad last month. After dropping the first two set, Mepham battled back to take the next two, only to go down 10-3 in the final set.

The Lady Pirates promptly won 22 of the next 27 points to secure the victory, and haven’t lost since. “They dug deep and found a way,” Williams said.

With three matches remaining, Mepham leads second place Valley Stream North by two games in Conference A3, having handed the Lady Spartans their only two losses, including a big road victory that went the distance Oct. 17. Mepham won the second, third and fifth sets.

Having clinched one of the two playoff spots available in A3, Mepham will inevitably face a top-ranked team in Conference A1. Though it will be a challenge, Williams said the team has fared well in recent history against upper echelon opponents.

Several players have contributed to Mepham’s success, most notably junior Samantha Green, who fills up the stat sheet on a nightly basis from the setter position. After leading the county in aces last season, she tops the leaderboard again this year and is also in the top 15 in assists.

“I’ll put her up against anyone else in the county,” said Williams. “She sees the whole court. She’s like a really good point guard in basketball.”

Williams joked that during in-game stoppages, when he’s preparing a strategy and walks over to his team, Green is already saying everything that he was preparing to. “I’m like, you ladies do the huddle, and I’ll just do the lineup,” he said with a laugh.

Junior Lauren Boles is also in the top 20 countywide in assists. Williams also credited senior Jillian Mayer as a top defensive player, senior Brianna Morse as one of his elite middle players, and senior Stephanie Simone, a gritty outside hitter.

Plays often end with kills by senior Amanda Hodnet at middle hitter, and Williams praised junior Olivia Crowley for her ability to set up a play from the Libero position. His other Libero, senior Lorrie DellaCroce worked hard following ACL surgery in January, and sees action every game. “She worked like nobody’s business to be ready this volleyball season.”

Standing in the way of an undefeated regular season are Elmont this Tuesday – after Herald presstime – Floral Park (Oct. 26) and MacArthur (Oct. 29.)