Giuliana Pamatat, Alexandra Gregory spur Garden City girls volleyball to Long Island Class AA championship
Garden City reacts after defeating Smithtown East to become the Long Island Class AA girls volleyball champions on Thursday in Hauppauge. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Tied at 22 in the fourth set, senior Giuliana Pamatat stepped to the service line with Garden City’s first Long Island championship on the line. Her first serve was an ace, sparking a three-point run that finished the set 25-22 and sent the Trojans into a historic celebration.
After dropping the first set, Garden City relentlessly rallied back to defeat Suffolk opponent Smithtown East, 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22), in the Long Island Class AA girls volleyball championship on Thursday night at Hauppauge High School.
“You’ve got to earn it, right?” coach Pete Dubon said. “We came here knowing the first set might be something like that, but they came back. They trusted themselves, believed in each other, and just stayed incredibly poised throughout.”
“A lot of the fall sports at our school do really well and win championships and go to states,” senior Alexandra Gregory said. “Now, it’s Garden City volleyball’s turn.”
The players’ poise was on full display throughout the match, particularly Gregory, who dominated at the net, finishing with 17 kills, including six in the second set that fueled the Trojans’ comeback and kept momentum on Garden City’s side.
“Alex only started playing volleyball for us sophomore year,” Dubon said. “I’ll tell you what, she can hit the ball hard, and she played very controlled.”
Her younger sister, Teresa Gregory, contributed seven kills, including three critical kills in the final four points of the fourth set, helping secure the historic victory.
The middle sets were a battle in themselves, with both teams exchanging leads and momentum.
“That’s the sport of volleyball,” Dubon said. “You have these big runs back and forth, and no lead is safe. I loved how we fought through everything. In those tough moments, they’re always bringing each other up.”
The Trojans (20-0) also earned their first county title since 2007 after defeating Mepham in three straight sets on Monday. Now, Garden City advances to the pool play semifinal round at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Harding Mazzotti Arena in Glens Falls, in hopes of earning its first state title. Smithtown East finished the season 18-3.
“We obviously hope to win, but we also just want to continue to play the best volleyball we can,” Giuliana Pamatat said. “We just want to keep pushing ourselves, just like we did today.”
“We played our hearts out, and that’s all I want from us at states,” Gregory added. “If that means we win, then fantastic.”
