Calhoun completes upset run to title

With things looking dim and the championship seemingly out of reach after it once was within their grasp, Max Jose put Calhoun on his shoulders and lifted them to the boys’ volleyball title that appeared to be a pipe dream entering the playoffs.

The senior had 24 kills, including four at the end of the dramatic fifth set, as fifth-seeded Calhoun withstood six match points to claim its third Nassau County Division II title in four seasons with a thrilling 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 18-16 victory over No. 2 Jericho at SUNY Old Westbury Wednesday night.

Junior Lucas Rogers had 19 assists, including feeds to Jose that helped put away the match, and Mark Restivo added 11 digs for the Colts, who will face Westhampton for the Long Island championship Saturday morning at Center Moriches High School. Bobby Bello had eight kills, Lucas Beltre added four blocks and Ian Yegidis dug out eight balls in the victory.

“There’s such a mix of emotions,” Calhoun coach Ryan Pastuch said. “I can’t even believe it. I’m so proud of my guys. They really put the work in this year and they just never give up. A lot of teams didn’t think we would be here.”

Calhoun’s only win during the regular season came against Farmingdale on Sept. 19, and the Colts (5-13) entered the playoffs mired in a nine-game losing streak. Six of the losses during the skid were sweeps, including one to Jericho on Oct. 5. 

The Jayhawks also won 3-0 against Calhoun in the season opener.

But it appeared that a different Colt team took the floor when the postseason started. Their run began with a 3-0 win over No. 12 Bethpage in the first round on Oct. 28 before rallying for a 3-2 victory over fourth-ranked Roslyn on Halloween after falling behind 2-1.

Calhoun’s Cinderella story continued with a shocking sweep of 16-win South Side in the semifinals on Nov. 3 and the boys held a 9-8 lead against Jericho in the third set after taking the first two. But midnight was suddenly approaching after the Jayhawks escaped to win the third and fourth sets and took a 9-3 lead to start the fifth before serving a potential match point at 14-10.

Pastuch took a desperation timeout at that point to give his team a motivational message.

“I just told them, ‘We’ve been in this position before,’” he recalled saying in the huddle. “We’re the team that never gives up. I said if there is ever a team to be able to do this and come back, it’s this group of guys right here. They have so much heart and they will do anything for the next point and that’s what they did.”

Calhoun moved to 14-11 after Aleksander Ignjatovic and Rogers stuffed a kill attempt by Jericho’s Josh Chen and another Chen kill try sailed out of bounds to cut the deficit to two. Rogers’ ace and Jose’s kill knotted the score at 14.

“He is that guy,” Pastuch said of Jose. “When we need a point, we go to him. He’s the best player in the county. He just is. He doesn’t get enough credit.”

Jericho’s Daniel Nathel and Jose traded kill points and the Jayhawks regained the lead at 16-15 on Andrew Pang’s kill. Jose tied the match again with a kill off a Rogers feed and Calhoun took a 17-16 lead when Jericho failed to return Sam Saldarelli’s serve.

Jose sealed the match with a booming spike after a Rogers pass from the right side.

“I’m ecstatic right now,” Jose said. “The boys were able to get it done and I couldn’t thank them enough. Everyone brought juice. Everyone wanted to play here and they showed it. Everyone on the court needed to play as hard as they could and they did and we got it done.”

Rogers, who had a team-leading 263 assists during the regular season, was looking for Jose every chance he got down the stretch.

“When it was 14-11, we just kicked it to Jose, big time Jose,” he said. “And then I got more balls up, better passes.”