Somers Volleyball Takes Four Straight

SOMERS, N.Y. - With a 3-0 start under their belts, Somers welcomed Tappan Zee to this side of the river, and Gianna Morales was quick to describe the atmosphere of Tusker volleyball for the visitors.

“We enjoy what we do,” she said. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well for the Dutchmen.

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Somers won the day with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-15 sweep.

The match did begin on the back and forth, though. Even so, Somers didn’t want their guests to get any funny ideas and went high and low to keep things contained. Katie Kourakos’ diving save set up a Tappan Zee spike long, and Adrianna Adelmann dinked over the front line to maintain at 3-3.

Natalie Lai did answer with a kill, but that was Tappan Zee’s last lead. Twice Emma Barton set Morales for the center kill, and the 6-5 lead had the hitter praising both her setters.

“Emma and Katie (Kourakos) are very good. They accommodate us. You tell them what to do and they’re there,” said Morales, who had 8 kills, 2 digs, and 1 assist.

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Still, Tappan Zee stayed close on a kill by Alyssa Chiappa and a block by Kerry Martin. An 8-7 game, the elephants were ready to stampede. One of Olivia Tran’s 19 digs went to Kourakos for the Alex Googel kill, and then the Tuskers overcame a pair of diving saves for a Maren Kellock crush that began the separation.

Next, Kellock extended to a four-point lead and proved that side doesn’t matter. Neither did the setter, she took Kourakos on the left and Barton on the right, which is mostly one in the same for the senior flamethrower.

“I’ve been playing with Emma during club season. We got into a really good groove, and then Katie, I’ve known her since she was a baby,” assured Kellock and maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that both setters had 13 assists.

Ten kills, four digs and one ace for Kellock, Somers showed that they could even tee it up from the rough. The second hit came to Barton in the back, and she elected to stay put. The setter served up Adelmann in the back row, and she hit the coffin corner for a 17-11 lead.

A few Tappan Zee errors, a Kourakos ace and a Googel kill made for a 23-13 lead, and after Kellock connected on a dink, Somers took the first set on a Tappan Zee spike into the net.

On to set two, the Tuskers came out stuffing and swinging. On a long bump by Tappan Zee, Adelmann was there with the block, and Googel followed with a pair of kills from the left.

A Barton ace made it 6-1, and two points later, the girls had no problem putting in the dirty work. First Barton came diving in from the back row to save the second hit, and on the subsequent spike, Libby Hochman’s big dig in the back led to a Kellock kill from the left.

8-2 turned to 12-3 on two more kills by Somers’ primary hitter, and at 14-6, the Tuskers used the whole court to outlast Tappan Zee in another big rally. The hits came from left, right, center and back before Morales put the point away from the middle. The lead would grow to 21-8 on two kills by Googel, and the girls easily closed the 25-13 game out.

One to go, Tappan Zee stayed close again at the outset. A kill by Devin Cunney and a Kailey Dolan ace gave the Dutchmen a 4-3 lead, but Kellock quickly restored order. She got a kill from the left and smoked an ace for a 5-4 advantage.

A Googel dink extended to 7-4, and after a few Somers miscues allowed Tappan Zee to hang around at 8-7, Somers went off speed to begin another roll. Googel took Barton’s set and dinked for a 9-7 lead.

The Tappan Zee EZ-Pass activated, Morales then blocked and killed for a three-point lead and extended to five on a spike from the right. A Barton ace made it 16-10 and then Adelmann flashed her versatility in the front. She received Barton set into the middle and slammed the center kill for a 17-10 lead.

Maybe more glory on the kills, the two-way player has no problem winning from the rear. “I enjoy playing defense,” Abelmann assured, and said so with a diving save that set the front line up for a commanding 21-12 lead.

Easy sailing from there, the concentrated effort has the compass pointing due north and seeks more of the same, according to Kellock. “We’re really focused and want to be able to lock in when we need to,” concluded the senior.

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