Just one day removed from a painful defeat at Pierson/Bridgehampton, the volleyball team evened their record with a 3-2 victory over Greenport/Southold on Friday. In the opening set, the girls dropped the first two points but reeled off six straight of their own behind the serve of Emily Stone. With a 13-6 lead, Sydney Braat took over, earning a kill to give the Bears a 14-6 edge, then leading them to five straight points, three of which coming on aces.

The Clippers earned the next two points, but Allie Rothaar gave the Brook its 20th point with a beautiful change-up that froze the defense. The ball was then handed to eighth-grader Rebecca Hollis who helped put the game away with four straight aces. She used the entire court as her first serve hit the right sideline and the second hit the back line. Four straight points from Greenport/Southold followed before the Blue and White wrapped up set one, 25-13.

In the second set, the Bears built an early 7-5 lead when Hollis’ serve again catalyzed the Brooker attack. They reeled off nine straight points on her serve, highlighted by Hollis’ two aces and incredible diving, one-handed dig that led to a Stony Brook point. Braat closed out the 25-16 victory with an ace. With the match firmly in hand, the Bears no doubt had thoughts of a sweep on their minds, a fate they delivered to the Clippers twice last season. However, our visitors did not go down without a fight.

The Clippers built an early 0-5 lead in set three, prompting a timeout from coach Leslie Paige. The Bears battled back to 5-7, but Greenport/Southold would win 11 of the next 12 points to build a commanding 18-6 lead. To our girls’ credit, they too did not capitulate as they brought the score back to 20-23, but it was too little to late as they dropped the round, 21-25. The Clippers then took the fourth set, 25-19, as an easy victory suddenly became a dogfight.

In the pivotal fifth set, our girls built an early lead and looked as though they would cruise to victory despite the pressure from Greenport/Southold, but the Clippers staged another comeback, slicing the Bears’ edge to a single point before we finally closed out the 25-22 victory.

Rebecca Hollis led Stony Brook (1-1) with 14 aces and made key defensive plays in the deciding game in League 8.

~ Newsday

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