Syosset Boys Volleyball Bows Out Of Playoffs

The  Braves boys volleyball season ended on Friday night after a 3-1 loss to the Plainview JFK Hawks in the Nassau Class A semifinals at Roslyn High School. The 25-22, 12-25, 12-25, 22-25 Braves loss marked the. Unlike the one-sided contest on Oct. 19, Syosset tested Plainview until the final point fell to the floor.

A hard-fought first game led to a 1-0 lead by Syosset. But instead of taking the first set momentum with them, the Braves left it on Plainview's side of the net. A combined 24 points in the next two sets left Syosset needing a fourth set victory to send the match to a do or die fifth. 

But the the Braves fell just short in the fourth set, rattling off seven of eight late points to cut the Plainview lead to 22-20. The Hawks ended Syosset's upset hopes with three of the final five points.

"They didn't want the season to end," Syosset coach Brian Donaghy said of the near comeback in the final set. "The problem was, when we were making a run we would always make an error in a key moment. If we didn't make those errors in key moments, we probably would have been playing a game five."

The loss was the third defeat of the year for the Braves.

Hero: Sam Gertler tried his hardest to match the speed and athleticism of Plainview JFK and looked the part through most of the match. A key kill in the second set stopped an eight-point Plainview JFK run. Although the Braves would give the serve back to the Hawks just two points later, Gertler's efforts gave Syosset an opportunity to start a run of their own.

Turning Point:  The eight-point run by Plainview JFK in the second set zapped any momentum the Braves had retained from a first set victory. Syosset had cut the Hawk lead to 10-7 after stopping a four point Plainview JFK run. One point later and Plainview JFK had begun another run, one that was over twice as long. Although the 25-12 Hawk win only tied the score, a distinct momentum shift was evident.

Quotable: "The first [game] we didn't make any errors," Donaghy said of the mid-match shift in momentum. "In the second and third game we had a lot of unforced errors. We couldn't overcome that."

Bottom Line: Even though Syosset knew what was coming, they couldn't stop the Plainview JFK juggernaut. The Hawks gave the Braves defensive looks that they hadn't experienced for a large part of the regular season, and Braves kills that hit the floor all season long were suddenly being returned. Plainview JFK adjusted to Syosset's finesse game very well. This, in conjunction with unforced errors, spelled the end of the season for the Braves.

Key Stat: The 12 points scored in the second and third set were the lowest point output for the Braves in seven sets against Plainview JFK this season.

Nassau County Class A Semifinals       

Syosset                         25    12   12     22    1 

Plainview JFK            22    25   25     25    3

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