Maeve Britt, South Side girls volleyball's defensive dominance delivers another county title
South Side players celebrate after winning the Nassau Class A girls volleyball championship over Plainedge at Farmingdale High School on Saturday. Credit: Derrick Dingle
Even when a ball seemed destined to hit the floor, somehow Maeve Britt and South Side would find a way to leap toward it and keep it in play.
Britt had 24 digs as top-seeded South Side defeated second-seeded Plainedge, 25-19, 27-25, 25-16, in the Nassau Class A girls volleyball final on Saturday afternoon at Farmingdale High School.
“Defense is a big focus for us,” Britt said. “We try to communicate and make sure we get every ball up. We always tell each other that nothing is ever hitting the floor.”
Allie Fingleton had 11 kills, Lena Miller and Keira Mullaney each had nine kills and Amy Berenbroick had 39 assists for South Side. Kenney Murnane had 10 kills and Angelina Puglisi had seven for Plainedge.
South Side (15-1) will face Half Hollow Hills West at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in the Long Island Class A championship at Hauppauge High School. Plainedge finished at 13-7.
The nerves were apparent early in the Cyclones’ title defense as many attacks sailed out of play and Plainedge led 11-3. South Side settled in and went on a 12-3 run to take the lead after Audrey Reilly’s block. The Cyclones outscored Plainedge 22-8 over the final 30 points to take the opening set, 25-19.
“We’re really good at coming together after every point and resetting,” Miller said. “It was important to just scrap the last point, whether we won or lost it.”
The Cyclones grabbed a 10-4 advantage in the second after back-to-back kills from Fingleton. With the score tied at 13, South Side went on a 7-0 run, which featured three kills by Miller.
Plainedge saved three set points and took a 25-24 lead after Murnane’s kill. A kill by Miller gave South Side a one-point lead and a Plainedge error ended the set, 27-25.
“We do a lot of drills in practice of close game situations, so this wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling for the girls,” South Side coach Steve Mariano said. “We’ve played some good teams this year, been down and come from behind. That helps in pressure situations where nerves can kick in.”
The Cyclones held their largest lead of the match after Caitlin Ferrari’s kill made it 21-12 in the third. Mullaney followed with a kill and Ferrari had kills for South Side’s final three points.
“We have amazing defensive players. Maeve was doing one-hand saves running across the court,” Miller said. “Our captains told us before the game that we aren’t letting any balls drop in.”
South Side returns to the Long Island Class A championship, where the Cyclones lost to Sayville last year.
“It’s going to be fun. We’re excited for the opportunity,” Britt said. “We want to go as far as possible, because we know we deserve to keep going.”
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.
