On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the John Jay volleyball squad celebrated Senior Night, and emotions were high. Of course, the Wolves still had to play the game, and while the match against Somers didn’t go five sets, the struggle seemed like it did.
Olivia Casabona’s serve dropped on the end line, and the resulting four-set victory had Jaime Bartley-Cohen beaming.
“We just defeated an undefeated team,” she said after the 25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24 John Jay win.
Hanna Martinsen got the Wolves on the board with a dink, Bartley-Cohen followed suit, and Ilirijana Ahmetaj swung away to give her team a 5-2 lead.
Haley Hoskins followed with an ace, and John Jay showed no sign of slowing down. Hellen Dollar knocked down a long Somers bump, and Ahmetaj did it the old-fashioned way with another kill.
In a 9-4 game, Julia Shepherd didn’t overdo it to maintain the four-point lead. The bump came a little long to Dollar, she tipped it up with one hand and Shepherd’s little knock found the floor.
Maria DeGaetano then dealt an ace, and Bartley-Cohen blocked for a 12-5 lead. But a few Jay miscues and a Maren Kellock kill got Somers back in the game at 13-9.
A serve long by Olivia Tran derailed the Tusker momentum and put the writing on the wall. Dollar blocked Kellock’s kill from the left, and the 15-9 lead sent the back line into action.
First, DeGaetano made a diving save in the right corner, and next Riley Buckingham stood tall with two hands on another Somers slam. The point remaining alive, Bartley-Cohen eventually put down a long Somers bump and the lead was six.
Hoskins’ ace made it 17-10, and Somers called for time after an unforced error added another point. An Adrianna Adelmann ace did get the Tuskers within six, but Dollar again went one-handed on a tight set. She popped it perfectly, and Ahmetaj dinked for a 20-13 lead.
Somers didn’t go away though and fought back to 22-20. So, Bartley-Cohen took over. The senior changed it up with an off-speed push.
“It takes them out of their system,” she said, and the hitter was straightforward for point 24.
Two perfect sets from Dollar, Bartley-Cohen was undeterred on the initial cover and sunk her teeth the second time around. On point, John Jay took the first set on a back-row spike that fell harmlessly into the net.
Onto set two, the tables turned. Somers jumped out to 7-2 and 12-5 leads, and John Jay battled back. Two kills by Bartley-Cohen began the comeback, and a pair of Buckingham aces did a number.
“It’s really all in the toss,” said Buckingham. “I keep it low and out in front to get good high contact.”
Now 13-9, Hoskins stepped in with Bartley-Cohen to get within one. Two kills and two aces by Hoskins made it 14-13.
A serve into the net gave Somers breathing room but kills and aces were still in order. Two Ahmetaj kills and two aces by Dollar tied the game at 17.
An errant Ahmetaj push gave Somers the lead, and two more miscues by the hitter set Somers on the way to a 25-21 victory.
Rubber match, the game did justice at the outset. Bartley-Cohen and Adelmann traded kills to start, and then Ahmetaj and Adelmann exchanged dinks.
The score was 4-3 in favor of John Jay—the Wolves were soon doubling up, and the defense did the math. DeGaetano and Dollar made diving saves, and Casabona ran in for the set that Bartley-Cohen killed.
Without leaving her feet, the hitter nailed the open back corner, but Somers had the next four points covered. A Kellock dink and a Gianna Morales kill were added to a couple of John Jay errors, and the game was tied at eight.
So, John Jay answered with three, and Buckingham got to play over her head. Dollar going with the back set, the defender stood tall.
“I’m happy when I get set,” said Buckingham, and she answered with a kill.
With the score 11-8, it was Somers’ turn. A back-row kill for Tran was followed by two kills in a row for Kellock. Back and forth then took over until Ahmetaj got consecutive kills to give the Wolves a 15-13 lead.
Dinks by Martinsen and Shepherd opened a four-point lead, and two more kills by Ahmetaj set the stage for the 25-17 victory.
A game to go, the best was saved for last. Tran opened with an ace, and Ahmetaj and Dollar responded with a kill and a block respectively. In turn, Kellock was in and out before Adelmann was in. A spike long and a spike in made it 3-2, and Adelmann gave Somers a 4-3 lead on a spike from the center.
Ahmetaj was not impressed, though. Three straight kills tied the score at six, and John Jay took an 8-6 lead when Dollar was money with a back-row kill.
A Meghan McHugh ace gave John Jay a 10-7 lead, and Bartley-Cohen kept the margin three with a kill at 11-9. Casabona’s ace made it 14-10, and Somers called for time.
Kellock answered with a kill, and Adelmann contained the score at 16-14 with another kill. Of course, Jay’s front line could play that game too. One for Ahmetaj and three for Bartley-Cohen had the Wolves four points away at 21-17.
Another time out for Somers, and before the home crowd blinked, the Tuskers scored six straight. Now, John Jay called for time, and the mood did not change.
“We like to keep it very light because it makes it a lot easier when we make mistakes,” said Bartley-Cohen.
The hitter then proved the point. Bartley-Cohen killed to end the Somers run, and Hoskins tied the score with an ace.
With two points to go, Casabona bumped the set, and the Ahmetaj kill had the teams one point away from starting their homework. Up went the set, and Ahmetaj admitted the failed dink was a case of being hesitant.
“I should have gone up with confidence,” she said.
No matter, the senior knows the team always has her back.
“It’s the mentality that we have,” Ahmetaj explained. “You look at the person who set you in the eyes - I got the next one. They set you again, and you put it away.”
That’s exactly what Ahmetaj did, and Casabona was left on serve. Aiming for the back line, she jokingly made the claim.
All done, the serendipity was so sweet.
“We really pushed through, and it’s 10 times better that it was on Senior Night,” Buckingham said.
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