SOMERS, N.Y. - On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Somers defeated Croton-Harmon, a team that made a run at the state tournament last year. Coming off the impressive upset, the Tuskers had to dial it up again the next day at Ossining, and co-coach Katie DiChiaro acknowledged the challenge.
“We had three games this week,” she said. “They were super tired.”
It was a tall order, but there were no excuses, and the fight Somers exhibited made that clear.
Despite the four-set loss, DiChiaro couldn't help but beam.
“We came in exhausted and played amazing,” she said.
Even so, the Tuskers started as though their busy schedule had caught up with them. Along with a number of errors and mishits, Somers had to contend with the ferocious Lions, who jumped out to an early 11-3 lead. Jose Romero delivered a big blast from the middle, and Shaun Leak added two of his own.
The Ossining defense also came up big. Nobin Thomas unleashed a pair of spikes with Somers trailing 7-1, but the returning digs had the recent Tusker addition sending his third attempt long.
Still, these Tuskers refused to rest their weary legs. Joey DePace connected when Thomas stepped in to take the set, and Somers stayed within range with two more outside kills by Thomas and one from the middle by Jordan Daniyan.
Courtesy of Nathan Thomas, the second brother was also a walk-on, and with no sibling rivalry in sight, Somers moved forward to cut the lead in half. With sets from his brother, Nobin delivered two more powerful hits, and so did DePace.
With the twin towers in action, DiChiaro was giddy about the new pairing.
“It’s a game changer for us,” she said.
Trailing 19-16, Somers got within 20-18 on a DePace dink, but Ossining held on for a 25-21 victory in the first set.
Somers also fell behind early in the second set. After DePace opened with a kill on the left, a pair of Nobin Thomas misfires, a Romero kill and an ace by Sean Leak made it 4-1.
Of course, Somers bounced back. The Thomas brothers connected again, with Nobin delivering two kills off Nathan's sets, one in the traditional manner and the second on a diving bump.
With Somers trailing 7-5, Nobin remained on his toes four points later. He made a kick save off a dink, and such court presence was no surprise to DiChiaro.
“He’s everywhere on the court,” she said.
Unfortunately, DePace was blocked on the subsequent set. Trailing 10-7, DePace still got a lift from the acrobatics. He followed with a kill and a pair of aces to tie the score.
Not to be outdone, Thomas hit the trifecta. Three kills gave Somers a 13-12 lead, but Ossining wasn't impressed. After a miscommunication on the Somers side tied the game, Leak dropped an ace, and Max Biles blocked Daniyan to open a 16-13 lead.
Still, Somers stayed close with another Thomas kill. Unfortunately, a couple of Somers errors restored the three-point deficit, and a Biles ace added another. A few more Somers errors followed, and Ossining went on to a 25-16 victory.
In the third set, Ossining looked ready to jump out to another big lead when Juan Zhunio dropped an ace to make it 2-0. Somers didn't let the Lions get away this time, though.
Thomas stopped the mini-run with a kill, and a few errors later, Somers led 4-3. Still, Ossining didn't get the message Somers was trying to send and jumped out to a 13-8 lead.
Needing a big hit, DePace delivered. Unfortunately, Zhunio returned it with an amazing dig that sailed over the net and landed.
Ossining gave the points back nonetheless. Two straight errors followed, and DePace got his revenge with an ace that made it 14-11.
Nobin Thomas' push at the net also dropped, and Somers was back in the game. Ossining answered with defense to stop the run. Zhunio hit the floor to lift Justin Cirioni's dink, and after Leak's kill connected, Ossining built a 17-12 lead.
It was Somers' turn now. Max Weinfeld followed an Ossining error with a pair of aces. Thomas didn't let two massive digs by Zhunio get him down either.
“I just keep hitting,” he said.
The third time was the charm, and Somers was within one at 17-16. Not for long, though, as Ossining took three of the next four points to open a 20-16 lead.
Of course, Thomas kept swinging for the fences. He connected on three slams to pull the Tuskers even at 20-20.
With Ossining now rattled, a couple of misses gave Somers a 22-21 lead, and the stampede continued. DePace delivered two aces, Loscher made a big dig that dropped over the net, and DePace knocked down the winning kill on another great set by Nathan Thomas.
With Ossining leading two sets to one, the fourth set went back and forth almost to the very end. After Romero blocked DePace in the middle and Leak scored on a dink, Thomas switched things up. He took something off two straight kills to tie the score at 2-2.
The teams then traded errors until Thomas came through again, mixing power with finesse. His two more kills gave Somers a 7-4 lead. From there, the Tuskers maintained the three-point margin with kills by DePace and Thomas and a block by Cirioni.
Of course, Ossining didn't go away. Leak hit a dink, Ossining dug another Thomas spike to make it 11-10, and Chris Tapia tied the score with an ace. Tapia also added a back-row spike for a 13-12 lead, but a couple of Ossining errors left the visitors ahead 14-13.
Somers then maintained its advantage on a Thomas dink and a kill by DePace. Add two Ossining miscues, and Somers was seven points away from taking the set at 18-15.
A DePace kill made it six, but that's where Ossining put on the brakes. DePace hit long and into the net, and instead of blasting away, Romero found an open spot with a push.
The big middle man then blocked DePace to tie the score at 20-20. After DePace hit into the net, Romero answered with a thundering spike that made it 22-20.
A few more Somers errors sealed the Tuskers' fate, but they headed home with plenty of praise from their coach.
“We are so proud,” DiChiaro said.
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