SOMERS, N.Y. - On Saturday, Oct. 31, Somers opened its postseason by hosting John Jay. Even though the Tuskers won the first two sets, the narrow victories suggested the match could easily turn in the other direction. So when John Jay jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third set, Coach Swertfager huddled her team.
“This is your make or break moment. You have to play your heart out and power through,” Abby Babboni recalled her coach saying.
The words did not go unheeded.
Somers woke up and completed the sweep with a 25-20 third-set victory.
The afternoon began like it was going to be a long one, though. The fourth point embodied the struggle. Audree Chong and Georgia Costa hit the floor for John Jay, and Brynn Robinson kept the ball off the ground for Somers. That is, until Chong dropped a dink to tie the set at two.
The same story unfolded when Somers tied the set at four. Costa went palms down to dig up a dink, and so did Morgan Brown. Still low, Khloe Kisthart dove to keep the ball alive and send it over the net for a winner.
Maegan Brown and Claire Cronin then sandwiched Blake Axelrod’s kill for a 6-6 tie, and more hustle was next. On Axelrod’s hit, Somers’ first contact sent the ball backward toward the end line. There, Katie Kourakos brought it back with one hand, and Shari Marrero bumped the third ball over.
Axelrod misfired on the return, and Somers led 7-6. An ace by Robinson and a Cronin kill added two more, and John Jay called timeout.
Back on the court, Kourakos’ diving dig demonstrated exactly what coach Pamela Heitman saw all game long.
“Our defense was stellar, which kept us in the game for a lot of points,” she said.
In this case, it led to a 10-6 advantage on Zara Salazar’s perfectly placed bump.
Marrero did the same on the ground at 11-7, and the save left Babboni and Cronin to turn back Costa’s spike for a 12-7 lead. But in fairness, Kourakos gave John Jay the chance to dive with a second-ball push that sent Maria DeGaetano to the floor.
Too far away in this case, and Somers led 13-9. Not done with their run, the Tuskers got an ace from Kisthart, a kill from Marrero and a block from Babboni on the way to a 20-10 lead.
The 11th-seeded Wolves refused to give in, though. An Axelrod kill, a block and a deep push from Fulton made it 21-15. Then an errant bump and another dink from Fulton cut the deficit to 21-17 and forced a Somers timeout.
Respite over, Kisthart went with a change of pace to stop the run. She back-set to Ella Barron, and the outside hitter found the back right corner.
At 22-18, the Wolves just dug in. Axelrod answered with a kill, and Ruby Quinn followed with a pair of aces to make it 23-22. She served long, and Somers was one point away. But Salazar returned the favor, and Cronin’s spike into the net brought the set to deuce.
No problem. Cronin made amends with a kill, and the winning point had both teams really go the distance. For Somers, Salazar made a diving save with her back to the net, and Babboni dug one out of the net before pushing the ball to the far left corner for a 26-24 win.
Crushing for John Jay, but the visitors didn’t miss a beat. Aided by a few Somers errors, the Wolves kept pace at 7-7 with three kills by Costa and a dink and a kill in the middle from Axelrod.
So Kisthart went back to Barron. Fast-forward this time, the hitter gave Somers an 8-7 lead, and after two John Jay errors, Maegan Brown’s windmill swing increased the lead to four.
No quit in the Wolves. Two kills and an ace by Axelrod, Chong and DeGaetano, respectively, drew praise from Swertfager.
“They don’t play like an 11th seed,” she said.
Kourakos’ long push tied the set, and the back-and-forth was on. Morgan Brown dropped a dink, Fulton’s bump found the floor between the front and back lines, and Babboni’s block of Euwen Chong was good for a 15-13 Somers lead.
Babboni then played give and take. Twice she pushed long before executing Kisthart’s perfect short set for a 16-15 Somers lead. With no separation to be had, another tie came at 17 after Maegan Brown and Axelrod traded kills.
An error did give John Jay the lead, but Maegan Brown made up for it with another kill. It was an opportunity that wouldn’t have come without Salazar’s save, which had Kisthart beaming.
“The hitters were great, but the defense was phenomenal,” said the setter.
They had to be. John Jay took a 20-19 lead on an Axelrod kill and a DeGaetano ace. Even so, two John Jay errors followed, and the Tuskers stampeded from there. Kills from Cronin and Marrero and a Salazar ace led the way to a 25-21 second-set victory.
Down two sets, John Jay didn’t seem to notice. The Wolves came out swinging and jumped to a 7-2 lead. So Kisthart opened the back door again. This time she found Marrero, whose kill, combined with a Svea Almquist ace, cut the lead to 7-4.
On the upswing, Somers cut the deficit to one. A block by Babboni, a kill by Maegan Brown and a Cronin kill off another back set made it 9-8.
Unfortunately for the Tuskers, John Jay was not fazed. Axelrod delivered two kills, and Costa added an ace and a kill on the way to a 15-10 lead.
Somers responded by getting down to business. Salazar bumped, Kourakos set and Cronin delivered a kill, allowing Kisthart to tee it up for her teammate.
“Claire is so consistent,” said Kisthart. “She is a rock.”
Of course, stationary isn't what happens on the Somers side. Robinson made a diving save on the back line, Kisthart got the ball to the net, and Babboni knocked down the point.
At 15-12, Babboni followed with a dink and a kill to tie the set at 15, then opened an 18-16 lead on a deep push. Still, John Jay fought on and tied the set at 19 on a Fulton kill.
The Tuskers didn’t dull, though. Kisthart found the floor on a second-ball dink, Morgan Brown dinked on the third ball, and Brown came back with a big kill from the middle to make it 23-20.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to hit it, but I snapped my wrist down,” she said.
A Robinson ace ended the day and laid out the path ahead, according to Kisthart.
“The states are next,” she concluded confidently.
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