Repeat title for Cougars

Defending champion Kennedy's hits were coming from all angles, and there was only so much West Hempstead could fight off in the Nassau Class B boys' volleyball final at Adelphi on May 27.

The second-seeded Cougars, on the heels of a thrilling come-from-behind five-set semifinal win over Jericho two days earlier, rode their ultra-balanced attack to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-27, 25-14 victory over the No. 4 Rams and a repeat title.

"It's incredible," Kennedy coach Allen Ma said. "We overcame great adversity to get to the finals and we closed out by playing a great match.

"The best thing about our team is, opponents never know where the ball is coming from and can't focus on stopping one kid," added Ma, who is assisted by Dennis Ringel. "We have a quick offense with versatile players who can hit from anywhere."

Senior setters Ryan Pastuch and Jesse Forman dished out 22 assists apiece and senior Brendan Mills, who earned tournament MVP honors, led the hit barrage with 16 kills. Senior Jon Meschnik and juniors Brian O'Gorman and Ben Hirschler added nine kills apiece, and junior Dylan Simonson had 11 digs.

West Hempstead, which swept aside top-seeded Floral Park in the semifinals, got 22 assists from senior setter Ben Abelido, 13 kills from senior Danny Minto and five blocks from senior Scott Libby.

"We had a great run, but unfortunately we couldn't take it all the way," Rams coach Andrew Wilson said. "[Kennedy] played very well and put constant pressure on us. We split matches during the season, but they were better than us today."

The Cougars were on the verge of a sweep after Meschnik gave them a 24-18 lead in the third set, but West Hempstead rallied to score nine of the next 10 points to keep its season alive. Minto, who had a dominant 14-block, 11-kill performance against Floral Park, led the resurgence with three kills and the set-clinching block.

Kennedy quickly regained the momentum early in the fourth set, with Forman serving six straight points for a 7-3 lead. The advantage grew to 20-12 after Pastuch set up kills by Hirschler and Mills and junior Matt Lawner's service ace. The 6-foot-8 O'Gorman put the exclamation point on the title with one of his trademark bat-downs off a feed from Pastuch. 

"Jesse and Ryan really came through, and my hat's off to those two kids," Ma said of offensive quarterbacks Forman and Pastuch. "They were a big part of a total team effort."

Kennedy was one point away from elimination in the semifinals against No. 3 Jericho. The Cougars fought off five match points to win a thrilling fourth set, 34-32, and took the decisive fifth set 25-21.

"After the way we came back to beat Jericho, we felt we could beat whichever team won the other semifinal," Meschnik said.