East Rockaway completes Three-Peat

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When East Rockaway saw its nine-match winning streak come to a halt with a late-season loss to conference rival Carle Place, the Rocks, who figured to be overwhelming favorites to win the county girls’ volleyball title, all of a sudden seemed a little bit vulnerable.

But, the Rocks were back-to-back Nassau champions for good reason. After struggling to barely eke out a victory over Uniondale the next time it took the court, the team played its best match of the season to enter the playoffs on a high note.

Momentum paid off as top-seeded East Rockaway overcame a sloppy start to knock off No. 2 Oyster Bay 25-27, 25-12, 25-22, 25-19 to claim the Nassau County Class C championship in a match played at Farmingdale State College on Nov. 6. Brooke DeGiulio had 22 assists and Jamie Keegan recorded 14 kills.

The victory marked the third consecutive county title for the Rocks. DeGiulio, Keegan, senior middle Catherine McClure, and junior outside hitter Madison Cipriano were members of all three championship teams.

Coach Ksenia Brito wasn’t overly concerned when the team dropped the first set. “We really just needed to settle down and start playing one point at a time,” Brito said. “We were playing good volleyball, but were making far too many errors and giving away points. We were pretty much mistake-free in the second set, and weren’t going to be stopped after that.”

The 25-12 second set was East Rockaway at its best. With DeGiulio running the offense, McClure (six blocks, two kills) dominating in the middle, and Keegan raising her game to beast mode, the Rocks were never challenged. Cipriano added six kills and three aces, and senior libero Giana Donald added 12 digs. Junior Makenna Lonergan was consistent and effective in the middle.

After closing out a back-and-forth third set, East Rockaway took the floor like a thoroughbred racing down the stretch. Oyster Bay made its run, but steady play from freshman Katy Howard, a player who seemed to give the Rocks a boost each time she took the floor, and strong serving from Cipriano and Donald gave the team an insurmountable lead. Keegan closed it out with an emphatic kill.

“From day one at tryouts, I knew we had the potential to do some great things,” Brito said. “We have great chemistry, and the girls proved all season long that they didn’t have any quit in them. I expected them to be here with a chance to go to states.”

The Rocks had a playoff-type match with Herricks to close out the regular season. Needing to beat the Highlanders in four sets or fewer to clinch the outright conference title, East Rockaway (13-3) was dominant in posting its fifth sweep of the season. DeGiulio, Keegan, and McClure combined for 18 kills and Donald added 10 digs.

The Rocks fell one step short of a trip upstate when they fell to Mattituck (16-2) in straight sets in the Long Island title match last Sunday afternoon.