East Rockaway captures county championship

Graduating 11 seniors from last year’s squad, combined with a more challenging schedule, made for quite a bumpy road for East Rockaway’s girls’ volleyball team. The Lady Rocks won just one of their first 12 matches before “something clicked,” coach Ksenia Ferrand said.

“Chemistry and confidence had a lot to do with it,” Ferrand said of the rough start. “We only returned four varsity players, and it took some time to teach the others how to play at this level. It was a slower process than we wanted, but the girls stuck it out and as they became a family, their success grew.”

After closing the regular season with wins in three of four matches, the Lady Rocks rode the momentum all the way to the Nassau County Class C title. They swept defending champion Carle Place, 25-12, 25-15, 25-15, at SUNY-Old Westbury on Nov. 4 for their first crown since 2011. Senior Kim McCann had 14 assists and four aces, senior Ally Cilluffo added seven digs, and junior Marisa Felbinger chipped in three aces and five digs.

“We started to turn things around after the first time we saw Carle Place,” Ferrand added. “They beat us in last year’s finals, and the girls really looked forward to playing them this year. Then we beat Wheatley and Lawrence the second time around after they both swept us the first time.”

East Rockaway entered the playoffs on a high note, but needed every ounce of energy to squeeze past Malverne in the Class C semifinals. The match went the maximum five sets: 25-19, 18-25, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25. “We didn’t see Malverne all year, and our girls played nervous,” Ferrand said. “They didn’t want the season to end.” McCann, a four-year varsity performer, had 19 assists and seven kills in the semis. Cilluffo had 10 kills, and junior Fallon DeStefani added nine blocks and four kills.

The offense was directed by McCann, an experienced setter who got everyone involved. She also served as a captain along with Cilluffo, the team’s go-to hitter in some matches, Ferrand noted. DeStefani and sophomore Corinne Haab comprised the starting middles, while Felbinger and sophomore Diana Locoteta formed a powerful outside hitting duo. Defensively, seniors Kelsey Radigan and Alyssa Tursi led the charge.

“I don’t think anyone expected us to go as far as we did,” Ferrand said. “It was so exciting.”