Lady Warriors take two titles

Win Nassau County and L.I. championships

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All the hard work put in to win a county championship was on the mind of Wantagh senior outside hitter Grace Riddle when she stepped to the service line with a chance to bring home the title.

Riddle recorded two aces and then served for Wantagh’s clinching final point in a marathon five-set win over Lynbrook (25-20, 25-14, 21-25, 23-25, 25-15) on Nov. 8 at Farmingdale State College to secure the program’s first Nassau County Class A crown since 2015. Wantagh’s county title set up another crowning moment three days later, when the Lady Warriors captured their first Long Island Class A championship with a dramatic five-set win over Kings Park.

“It was a little nerve-wracking at first, because it’s the final points you have to get to win, and everything was going through my mind that we have to win and this is something we’ve been working so hard for,” Riddle said moments after hoisting the county championship trophy with her teammates. “It felt so great when we won and was such a sweet moment.”

Riddle shared another celebratory moment with her teammates last Sunday night, when Wantagh rallied from two sets down to knock off Kings Park (14-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-12, 25-18) for the program’s first Long Island title since 2010. Riddle recorded 19 kills, four aces and 10 digs, and Jillian Laino chipped in 34 digs. Kayle Rende had 39 assists, three aces and 12 digs, and Emily Van O’Linda stepping up huge down stretch with four kills in the decisive fifth set.

“From the first day this season, the coaches preached being a family and sticking together,” Wantagh head coach Dan O’Shea said. “When we needed that the most, they stepped up and embraced just that. They never doubted each other once, and every single girl came through in the clutch.”

Two years ago, the Lady Warriors dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Floral Park in the 2016 county finals. Last week, led by Riddle’s 16 kills and Laino’s 44 assists, they made sure this year’s county title match went differently, despite the fact that Lynbrook was riding all the momentum after rallying from a 20-16 deficit in the fourth set.

“The one big thing we’ve been working on all year is not having fear,” Wantagh assistant coach Susanne Hoffman said. “In the beginning of the year we had a little fear, and I think by the fifth game we let that fear out and finally went for it.”

Early on, the Lady Warriors appeared poised to capture the county title with ease, after a commanding 25-14 win in the second set put them up 2-0. But Lynbrook dug in to win the third set, 25-21, after Wantagh’s Alyssa Albanese had served six points in a row late in the game to cut the lead to 22-21. The Owls then won a dramatic fourth set, 25-23, with a kill by junior Sara Bahri that set up the decisive fifth set.

“They did a great job, and I’m so proud of all of them,” said Lynbrook head coach Suzanne Amberge, whose team comprised mostly sophomores and juniors. “It was a great season.”

Wantagh, which dominated the county playoffs with sweeps against Bethpage, Hewlett and Mineola before Lynbrook put the Lady Warriors to the test, will next look to conquer all of New York when the squad travels to Glen Falls this weekend for the state semifinals.

“The biggest thing we said to the girls was, no regrets,” Hoffman said. “We said to put your heart and soul into it and give it everything you have.”