Seaford regains championship status

Lady Vikings topple defending champ Lynbrook

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After falling short against Lynbrook in last year’s Nassau Class B girls’ volleyball final, Seaford turned the table on the Lady Owls on Nov. 11 at SUNY Old Westbury to capture its fourth county championship in the last five seasons.

Behind their lone starter from the 2013 title-winning team, setter Erin Russell, the second-seeded Lady Vikings pulled off an unexpected sweep of the defending champs: 25-18, 26-24, 25-20. Russell had 20 assists, 11 digs and five kills, junior outside hitter Sophie Dandola added 11 kills, and senior Emily Angelastro led a solid defensive effort. No. 1 Lynbrook was led by seniors Laura Liacono (eight kills) and Shannon Wren (seven.)

“These girls are such a pleasure and I’m really happy for them,” Seaford coach Marie Savage said. “They work so well together and have so much fun. I don’t think anyone anticipated a sweep, but I’m glad we closed them out in three because they’re a good team and momentum can shift quickly.”

Russell set up junior Ashley Soliwoda for the championship-clinching point. “It’s exciting,” said Russell, a senior who as a sophomore dished out 34 assists in the 2013 finals. “Two years ago I was a lot more nervous being the youngest starter on a team going for a third straight championship,” she added. “We had an intense win in five against Lynbrook a couple of weeks ago and it gave us a confidence going into tonight. We have such great chemistry and I think it showed.”

The Lady Owls, who beat Seaford in the first regular-season meeting in four sets and took the Conference BC-1 crown with an 11-1 mark, led 10-9 in the opening set of the finals and 13-12 in the second set but were unable to make any substantial runs. “Serving was definitely one of the components that hurt us,” Lynbrook coach Stewart Ratzken said. “Most of the tough rallies went their way. They were hitting like they had nothing to lose. They blasted through our blocks and their setter deked us out with those dunks.”

Dandola found a groove midway through the first set, and her back-to-back kills put Seaford (13-3) ahead for good at 11-10. She added two more kills and an ace, while Soliwoda and junior Sophia Kaufman chipped in two kills apiece as Russell kept Lynbrook’s defense off-balance. 

“Our passing was on,” Savage said. “Erin is really something else. She’s so smart and sees the court so well. You just know when she gets the ball, something good is going to happen.”

The Lady Vikings led 22-18 in the second set when Lynbrook closed within one after sophomore Grace O’Dwyer slammed two points and junior Rebecca Shear served an ace. It was tied at 24 when Dandola and Soliwoda combined for a tremendous block and set the stage for Angelastro to seal the deal with an ace.

Seaford’s only deficit in the third set was 1-0. “I’m glad we never got too comfortable,” Savage said. “The girls really wanted to show the win over Lynbrook at the end of the regular season was no fluke.”