Phantoms repeat as girls volleyball county champions

Two sets into the Suffolk Class B girls volleyball championship match, Bayport-Blue Point found itself in a deadlock against a Shoreham-Wading River team it swept twice during the regular season.

First-year coach Angelina Scichilone brought the Phantoms into the hallway outside the Hauppauge High School gym on Oct. 27 before a pivotal third set with a clear message.

“I told them we were in a dogfight and to stick to the game plan,” Scichilone said. “The fact we beat them in three twice during the season didn’t mean anything. There are so many upsets in playoffs. The stakes are much higher and it was going to come down to who wants it more. We took our foot off the gas a little, but the girls realized it was go time.”

Top-seeded BBP grinded out a long third set to regain momentum on the way to repeating as county champions, 25-16, 20-25, 28-26, 25-18. Junior Amelia Garafola had 12 kills and senior Kelsey Morrison (20) and junior Morgan McKillop combined for 38 assists as the Phantoms advanced to the Long Island Class B championship against the Nassau County representative on Nov. 11 at Nassau Community College.

“We have eight seniors and they all get along great on and off the court,” Scichilone said. “We hadn’t played in over a week and a half, but we scrimmaged Sachem East and Smithtown East to maintain that competitiveness.”

The pivotal third set saw the Phantoms (13-2) race to a 15-9 lead before the Wildcats clawed back with six straight points to tie it. “It was back and forth after that,” Scichilone said. “We needed to dig deep and close it out and bring it home.”

A Shayleigh Robson kill ended the third-set nailbiter and Bayport opened the fourth set by scoring eight of the first nine points. The lead swelled to 22-12 and the celebration was soon on.

Robson, a middle hitter/blocker, and Morrison, a setter, are fourth-year members of the varsity squad. “They’re the backbones,” Scichilone said. “Shayleigh missed last year’s county final, so she really wanted to make an impact. She’s the one teams plan to defend against, but it doesn’t stop her. She always finds an open spot on the floor.

“Kelsey plays two important roles for us as a setter in the back row and the right side in the front row,” she added. “She has amazing court awareness and is always communicating.”

McKillop progressed tremendously since September, the coach noted, to emerge as a strong setter alongside Morrison. Junior Gabrielle Lacalamita is a force in the middle next to Robson and had some key points against Shoreham. Senior Abigail Fuller is an offensive weapon on the right side, whilst senior Olivia Colombo and Garafola are talented outside hitters.

As she has all season long, senior libero Lexi Hager led Bayport’s defense in the county final with 28 digs. Another key defensive specialist is senior Sarah Benedict. “Lexi gets to everything,” Scichilone said of Hager. “She puts her body 100 percent on the line and she’s our primary serve receiver.”