Rams advance to Final Four

While the lacrosse, softball, baseball, tennis and badminton teams have handed in their uniforms, the West Hempstead boys’ volleyball team has earned a trip to its second consecutive county Final Four. 

Senior captain Danny Minto had 15 kills and six blocks, and outside hitter Julian Clarke added five kills and five aces to lead host West Hempstead over No. 5 Roslyn 25-17, 27-25, 25-21, in the Nassau Class B quarterfinals last Friday. 

The fourth-seeded Rams advanced to the semifinals where they met No. 1 Floral Park (16-2), with a ticket to Thursday’s championship at Adelphi on the line.

In the win over Roslyn, setter Ben Abelido had 29 assists for West Hempstead, which improved to 13-4. Despite losing both matches, the Rams played Floral Park tough each time the teams met during the regular season. The Knights battled back from a huge deficit to knock off Bethpage in its quarterfinal match.

Rams coach Andrew Wilson knew his team was talented enough to return to the semifinal round. “The boys were motivated to relive the sense of accomplishment they felt when they made it this far a season ago,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of playing to their potential and being consistent on the court. I’m happy for the guys. They’ve worked very hard.”

After a four-set loss to Floral Park in late April, the Rams caught fire. They easily swept Lawrence, and then welcomed a strong Bellmore-JFK team to town. The two teams put on one of the more exciting displays of high school volleyball.

The Rams took the first two games by narrow margins, and appeared to be in the driver’s seat. But, back came the Cougars. Led by Brendan Mills and Brian O’Gorman, Bellmore-JFK battled back to take the next two games.

In the fifth and deciding game, Minto and Scott Libby (19 kills and seven blocks for the match) were too much for the Cougars to handle as the Rams escaped with a 26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-20 win. Abelido, who recorded the 1,000th assist of his career earlier in the season, added a season-high 48 assists. The victory avenged a straight-set loss to Bellmore-JFK back in April.

West Hempstead rounded out the regular season with four-set victories over Roslyn and Hewlett. In the victory over Hewlett, senior captain Danny Boehm had 23 kills and six blocks. Senior defensive specialist Brian Tam had his best match of the season with 32 assists.

Wilson believes the Rams can beat anyone when they’re playing with confidence. “It’s really just believing that we have the ability to win,” Wilson said. “One goal was to finish in the top four and host a playoff game. If we play with consistency, anything can happen.”