South Side played from behind in every set, but in a deciding fifth, Amy Berenbroick and the Cyclones rushed out to a lead and didn’t let up.
Berenbroick had 46 assists as South Side defeated Half Hollow Hills West, 25-20, 18-25, 20-25, 25-18, 15-5, in the Long Island Class A championship on Wednesday night at Hauppauge High School.
“At one point coach told us, ‘What do you have to lose?’ ” Berenbroick said. “We just had to play to win, because if you don’t put everything into it now, you’ll regret it.”
Lena Miller’s kill began the fifth set, and her ace four points later gave South Side a 4-1 lead. Caitlin Ferrari’s second kill of the set put the Cyclones ahead 7-3. They went on a 4-0 run, with Allie Fingleton’s kill earning a match point. Ella Corso followed with a kill for Hills West, but a net error ended the match.
“After the fourth, everyone was amped up,” Keira Mullaney said. “Everyone knew we were still in it now and if we kept that same energy, we would win it.”
Corso’s ace gave Hills West a 6-1 lead in the fourth. Two aces from Miller tied it for South Side and the Cyclones grabbed a 9-8 lead on Fingleton’s kill. South Side used a 5-0 run to take a 23-16 lead and earned a set point after Berenbroick’s free ball fell for a point.
“We’ve been working on making our free balls have purpose,” Berenbroick said. “Those are supposed to be easy balls for them to get a kill off, so we wanted to try to put them out of system.”
Hills West (16-2) took a 23-19 advantage in the third after back-to-back aces from Nicole Uribe. Emily Dantona and Corso had kills to end it.
Illie Markatos’ ace put Hills West ahead 17-11 in the second. Kills from Mullaney and Ferrari cut the South Side deficit to two. Hills West closed out the set on an 8-3 run, with kills from Morgan Wolcott scoring the final two.
“We fight for every point and that shows we have grit,” Mullaney said. “We fight for the person next to us. Everybody plays a part. This isn’t a one-man show.”
Dantona’s kill put Hills West ahead 18-12 in the first. Maeve Britt made a diving save and sent a ball over the net that fell in to give South Side a set point. An error closed it out as the Cyclones finished on a 13-2 run.
South Side (16-1) will face Rye (Section I) in the state Class A regional final at 1 p.m. Nov. 15 at John Jay Cross River.
“This team is so mentally strong,” South Side coach Steve Mariano said. “I told them we aren’t dead on this court until the last point is over. They know they can come back if they fight one point at a time. “
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
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