Last night, the girls’ volleyball team made history by winning their first Suffolk County title. They did it in thrilling fashion by coming back from an 0-2 deficit to win a five-set thriller over Pierson/Bridgehampton. Here is the recap of the match from The East Hampton Press.
Devastating Loss for Whalers in Class C Final
The Pierson girls’ volleyball team was in the driver’s seat in its Suffolk County Class C Championship match against Stony Brook on Monday night. It had a 2-0 lead and the road to a county title was wide open.
Then the Whalers crashed. Hard.
Then the Whalers crashed. Hard.
The Bears, the three seed that upset second-seed Port Jefferson in the semifinals, turned the tables on top-seeded Pierson, finishing off the 3-2 improbable comeback victory with a 27-25 win in the fifth and final set at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood. It’s the first ever county title for Stony Brook, which didn’t win a single match last season.
After reaching the Class D final and losing to Shelter Island last season, Pierson was back in Class C this season, and after winning its first ever league title with a 9-1 League VIII record, the Whalers were the clear top seed this postseason. But Pierson’s first ever county title remains elusive.
“I really thought they were going to take it but… it’s a tough loss,” Pierson head coach Donna Fischer said.
Pierson had gotten out to a 2-0 lead against Mercy in the semifinal match last week but wound up hanging on for the victory. There was no such luck this time around.
“They lost their composure again,” Fischer said of her players. “When they lose the third game it just knocks them off. They were so strong the first two games. And then serves; you cannot miss your serves.”
Stony Brook was led by freshman Elizabeth Robbins, a Sag Harbor resident who actually played on Pierson’s varsity team last season as an eighth-grader before transferring to the private school. Robbins was everywhere for the Bears on Monday night. She recorded seven aces and six kills, and while Stony Brook didn’t keep track of digs on Monday night, Robbins, a libero, had, at the very least, a dozen of them.
Pierson will now say goodbye to four seniors, three of them being key starters in Nia Dawson, Maizy Guyer, and Mackenzie Benbenek. All were vital in the team’s success this season and will be missed, Fischer said.
“They’re great. I’ll be sad to see them graduate and leave us,” she said.
stonybrookbears.org 