Caitlin Moller, Olivia Colombo deliver Bayport-Blue Point girls volleyball a Suffolk Class B title
Bayport-Blue Point poses after winning the Suffolk Class B girls volleyball final at Newfield on Friday. Credit: David Meisenholder
The mental aspects of the game are something Bayport-Blue Point believes are the keys to success. In a close third set, Caitlin Moller and the Phantoms were unflappable in the tight moments.
Moller had 15 kills as top-seeded Bayport-Blue Point defeated third-seeded Mattituck, 25-15, 25-12, 29-27, in the girls volleyball Suffolk Class B final on Friday night at Newfield High School.
“Coach [Toni] McKinnon always says this sport is 90% mental and 10% skill,” Moller said. “You need to make sure you aren’t getting down because it affects everyone else on your side of the court. Keep each other up and keep pushing on towards the next point.”
In a third set that featured 15 ties, Bayport-Blue Point held its largest lead at 18-14 after back-to-back aces from Kelsey Morrison. Mattituck tied it at 25 after Brynn Pawlowski’s kill and again at 27 after an error. Moller’s kill gave the Phantoms a sixth match point and Zoey Butler’s kill ended it.
“We do our handshakes with each other and keep talking,” Olivia Colombo said. “That’s all we really need to do to make sure we’re still locked in.”
Bayport-Blue Point began the second with an 8-3 lead after Moller’s kill. Lexi Hager’s back-to-back aces gave the Phantoms a 22-10 advantage.
Mattituck held a 7-4 lead in the first after Stella Tartaka’s ace. The Phantoms responded with a 14-0 run, capped off by Morrison’s ace. Colombo had four kills during the stretch and Morrison had three aces.
Colombo’s fifth kill of the opening game gave Bayport-Blue Point a set point and Sarah Benedict’s ace closed it out.
“We do a ton of serving in practice,” Colombo said. “It’s all just mental really. You have to make sure you get the ball in.”
Colombo had nine kills and three aces and Morrison had seven aces and three kills for Bayport-Blue Point. Butler had 11 kills and Hager had three aces and a kill.
Pawlowski had five kills and a block and Claire McKenzie had four kills and three blocks for Mattituck (10-6).
Bayport-Blue Point (13-2) will face the winner of Wheatley/Locust Valley at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Long Island Class B championship at Hauppauge High School.
“I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to keep playing,” Moller said. “That’s always the goal every year, get even further than the last. I have full faith in the group to keep up the work in the gym and take this all the way.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
