Ava Nitsch, Peyton Wise power Plainedge girls volleyball to first county title in program history
Plainedge reacts after defeating Mineola in the Nassau Class A girls volleyball championship on Sunday at Farmingdale State College. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Peyton Wise delivered the final kill and the rest of the Red Devils from Plainedge raced over and swarmed her. They all dissolved into a pile of joy by the net on the Farmingdale State court.
This team made program history Sunday, outlasting Mineola 29-27, 25-17, 27-25 to claim the Nassau Class A championship — Plainedge’s first county title in girls volleyball.
“It’s great,” said Wise, a senior right-side hitter. “Being a part of the basketball team that last year won the county and a Long Island championship, it feels just as good, especially because it’s my senior year and I’m doing it with all my favorite people.”
These people are 20-1 and bound for the Long Island Class A championship match/Southeast Regional semifinal against Sayville at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Hauppauge.
Last year, Plainedge reached the county final for the first time but got swept by South Side. Now the Red Devils were the ones doing the sweeping.
“It means a lot for the program,” coach Colin Fratrik said. “It means so much to the community and the school. These girls have done so much. … They just did a tremendous job.”
They had lost just one starter from 2025.
“We knew this year coming in we had to work just as hard as we did last year, maybe even harder, and just come out and play the way we know how to play,” said Ava Nitsch, their standout senior setter/right-side hitter.
The Mustangs led 18-12 and 23-18 in the first set. They had Plainedge on the brink, up 24-23 and 27-26. But the Red Devils showed their determination throughout. Kennedy Murnane had a kill to give them a 28-27 edge and then they closed it.
“That was tough to lead the whole way and lose it at the end,” Mineola coach Hyunah Park said.
Plainedge went up 17-11 in the second set. The Mustangs cut it to 19-16. But then came a 6-1 closing run that featured an Angelina Puglisi kill and a Mia Accatino block winner.
Mineola (12-3), which got eight kills apiece from Grace Giordano and Caitlin Powers, didn’t go easily in the third set after it fell behind 22-13. The Mustangs made an 11-2 run to tie at 24 before falling.
“Listen, I don’t like to look backwards; I like to look forward,” Park said. “We have a great future ahead of us with having such a young team.”
