Ryan Sguigna's slam helps Connetquot boys volleyball win thrilling Suffolk I championship over Bay Shore
Tyler Cope of Connetquot lifts the championship plaque in a mob of teammates and supporters after the Suffolk Division I boys volleyball final against Bay Shore on Thursday in Manorville. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Ryan Sguigna had the honors of ending an instant classic.
The junior knew the ball was coming his way with a county title on the line and he delivered.
Sguigna put down the final kill of No. 2 Connetquot’s 23-25, 32-30, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13 win over top-seeded Bay Shore in the Suffolk Division I boys volleyball championship match Thursday night at Eastport-South Manor High School.
“My setter said, ‘This ball is going to you,’” Sguigna said. “My team was right behind me and trusted me. What a feeling.”
Sguigna had 17 kills, two aces and a block and Colin O’Connor had 24 kills and a block.
It’s Connetquot’s second county title and first since O’Connor’s older brother, Brennan, helped the T-Birds win the 2022 crown.
“We’ve all been working so hard and it’s been a real team effort,” O’Connor said. “It just feels amazing.”
O’Connor had six kills in the riveting second set. Bay Shore’s Niall Haughney rallied the Marauders from down four points into a 23-23 tie. Both teams traded points until Bay Shore took a 30-29 lead. Connetquot earned three straight points to close out the crucial set and swing the momentum to the T-Birds’ bench.
“Last year in the semifinals, we won a 37-35 set against Sachem North,” O’Connor said. “You just can’t give up.”
“That was probably the biggest set of my life,” Sguigna said.
O’Connor and Sguigna carried the momentum into the third set, in which the T-Birds weathered a late storm. O’Connor put down an emphatic kill for the final point.
Haughney had 29 kills and seven blocks for Bay Shore, which finished 15-2. The 6-9 senior had five kills and three blocks in the fifth set, but Tyler Cope’s defense helped steady the ship for the T-Birds.
“They played so unbelievably well and it was so much fun to watch,” Connetquot coach Jess Perry said. “I’m getting out of breath just talking about it right now.
After winning the 2022 title, Connetquot lost to Massapequa in the Long Island championship match. With the elimination of the LIC this season, Connetquot (13-4) advances to the pool play round of the Division I state tournament, which begins at 9 a.m. Nov. 22 at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester. It’s the T-Birds’ first appearance in the state tournament.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’re going to states,” Perry said. “This has been a dream of mine as a coach and for all my athletes. This was our goal, and this is what we accomplished. It’s super special.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
