Sonia Ngai shakes off injury scare, leads Jericho girls volleyball to Nassau Class AA title
Jericho players celebrate after winning the Nassau Class AA girls volleyball championship on Sunday at Farmingdale State College. Credit: Joe Orovitz
Sonia Ngai earned the final point of the first set but spent most of the next two games on the sideline. With the Jayhawks trailing in the fourth, Ngai found the strength to return and guide Jericho to its first county title.
Ngai had 14 kills and three blocks as No. 5 Jericho defeated No. 3 Division, 25-22, 17-25, 22-25, 26-24, 19-17, in the girls volleyball Nassau Class AA final at Farmingdale State on Sunday. Ngai had kills for the final point of each set Jericho won.
“I think I took a bit of a funny step as I was heading to the bench. I may have just been more scared that something happened,” Ngai said. “After I got through that barrier, I was able to come back confidently. I just wanted to make an impact.”
Division took a 6-2 lead in the fifth set on Miyah Mirelis’ ace. Jericho scored the next four to tie it, with two coming from Ngai’s kills. Division erased two match points and held one of its own (15-14) after Julia Furnell’s ace.
An error tied it and Division saved one more match point before back-to-back kills from Amy Zhang and Ngai gave Jericho the win.
“We’ve put in so many hours and wanted this for each other,” Ngai said. “A lot of the season we were seen as underdogs and we don’t think we should’ve been. But that gave us even more motivation to win the whole thing.”
Eva Brown had 10 digs and a block and Zhang added 13 kills and four blocks. Alanna Gill had six kills and Camilla Yang tallied 12 kills and four digs for Jericho. Furnell had 23 kills and Mirelis added 10 kills and seven blocks for Division (13-3).
Jericho (13-3) will take on Half Hollow Hills West, which received an at-large bid, in the state Class AA regional semifinal at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Nassau Community College.
Ngai gave Jericho set point in the fourth but kills from Sophia Librizzi and Mirelis tied it at 24. Ngai answered with back-to-back kills to give Jericho the fourth set.
“Talent can get you to a championship, but sometimes your attitude can take you even further,” Jericho coach Mikayla Porr said. “This group maintains an incredible attitude. Whether we’re down or there are injuries, they are unbelievably optimistic.”
Jericho entered the championship match as the lowest seed in Nassau or Suffolk to make a county final this season. The Jayhawks had never appeared in a county final before.
“We’ve never been this far, so we came out really strong and with a ton of energy,” Brown said. “Even through the rough times, we wanted to keep that energy and make sure we kept 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.
