Hewlett captures conference title

The success of the Hewlett girls’ volleyball team is truly a rags-to-riches story.

Two seasons after going 1-15 under then-new coach Jarrett Rubin, Hewlett reached the pinnacle in 2017 by claiming the Conference A3 title after posting an impressive 12-2 record. But that mark didn’t appear possible for the Lady Bulldogs, an 8-8 team last year, after a crushing straight-sets home loss to Plainedge in the second game of the season on Sept. 5.

Rubin practiced his team hard the following day and the result was an 11-match winning streak, during which Hewlett lost just seven sets. The conference title was sealed with a four-set win at Bethpage on Oct. 23.

“A lot of the leadership is really what helped us,” Rubin said of the turnaround. “My captains came together and spoke with some of the younger talent and really thought about the way they want the season to end. Every time this team plays with their backs against the wall, they tend to perform a lot better.”

Those three captains were seniors Lauren Dori, Kristin McInnes and Sophia Lamsifer. Rubin described Dori as the “loudest” of the trio and someone who takes charge on and off the floor.

“She’s the one always motivating the girls a lot and she doesn’t take no for an answer,” he said. “There’s never an ‘I can’t,’ or ‘this can’t happen,’ [or] ‘we can’t do this.’ Her communication skills and her leadership has been instrumental in everything we do.”

Rubin realized his team was having a special season after consecutive wins over Bethpage (straight sets) and Great Neck North (four sets) on Sept. 19 and 26, respectively. Great Neck North was 9-2 through Monday’s games, including a victory over Hewlett on Oct. 27 that ended the Lady Bulldogs’ run, and Bethpage was 7-4.

“Those two teams are phenomenal teams,” he said. “Bethpage was the game where we really stepped up and turned on our defense. I’ve got to give credit to probably that game where it really made us turn the corner and [made them] realize that they had the talent, they just got to keep pushing.”

The captains also had strong seasons on the court as well. Dori, Hewlett’s setter, averaged 10 assists per game and had a whopping 32 in the season-ending loss to Great Neck North on Oct. 27. McInnes’ 124 digs were the seventh-best in Nassau County and Lamsifer had 31 kills from the middle hitter spot.

Sophomore outside hitter Kayley Ragazzini emerged as another player who contributed both offensively and defensively for Hewlett with a Nassau County-leading 73 aces to go with 242 kills (second best in the county), 100 digs (ninth) and 20 blocks.

Sophomore setter Emma Blumenstein paced the team with 210 assists, good for third in the county, and her absence due to dental work was highly noticeable in the loss to Great Neck North. Junior Amanda Fan was the county’s top blocker with 57 and added 75 kills from the middle.

The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to begin the postseason on Wednesday against an opponent that had yet to be determined at press time.