East Rockaway wins L.I. crown

Just a season removed from a campaign that resulted in just one victory on the volleyball court, the East Rockaway girls are Long Island Class C champions.

Senior Skylar Masterson had six kills and three service aces to lead the Lady Rocks to a three-set (25-19, 25-14, 25-13) sweep of The Stony Brook School at the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of SUNY Old Westbury last Saturday afternoon.

Senior Jessica Loyer added nine assists and six aces as East Rockaway earned its first Long Island title since 2009. Seniors Diana Locoteta (eight) and Kiera Popp combined for 15 kills. The Lady Rocks advanced to this Saturday’s state semifinals at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Pool play will begin at 3:00 pm.

Since training camp began in August, making the trip upstate was looked upon as an expectation. Head coach Ksenia Brito said she’s not surprised her team has reached its goal. “All year long, we talked about getting to states, and now we’re going,” Brito said. “We did it. We were pretty confident going into this match, but we kept everything in check. We saw Stony Brook play, watched them on film and the girls were prepared.” 

 The Lady Rocks are used to getting a ton of kills from junior Melissa Loyer and Locateta, but it was a complete team effort that led to the domination of the Suffolk champs. Time and time again, Masterson and senior Demi Lonergan came up with key blocks and kills.

Junior Joanna Acampora added 12 assists and a pair of service aces. Senior outside hitter Michelle Sheridan had a solid performance. East Rockaway never trailed in any of the three sets.

Four days earlier, the Lady Rocks claimed the Nassau County Class C title with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of Carle Place. Melissa Loyer (10) and Locateta combined for 16 kills, and Jessica Loyer added 10 assists as East Rockaway (11-7) dominated the Frogs.

As often has been the case, the Lady Rocks started slow and allowed Carle Place to hang around in the first set, but Locateta’s serving and Melissa Loyer’s hitting put the team over the top. In each of the next two sets, East Rockaway was barely challenged. It ran out to big leads and cruised to lopsided victories.

“We were all really pumped for this, because we knew it would get us one step closer to going to states,” Melissa Loyer said. “We had our struggles during the regular season, and at times it was really frustrating, but we really wanted this one. Usually, I start slow and it takes a little time to get going, but I knew how important this was and how badly we want to go all the way.”

East Rockaway will compete in a four-team pool upstate with Galway (Saratoga County), Caledonia-Mumford (Rochester), and Pawling (Dutchess County). The championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m. this Sunday at the Civic Center.