B.B. girls’ volleyball team dominates
November 26, 2024 at 11:56 p.m.
It was a weekend to remember for the Blind Brook girls’ volleyball team who prevailed over every team they faced in the state semifinals and finals in Glens Falls and did their school proud by taking home the plaque designating them as Class B state champions.
After winning a close game in regionals, the Lady Trojans knew they would have to step it up if they wanted to be the best Class B team in the state.
On Saturday, Nov. 23, the ladies partook in pool play at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Instead of playing one semifinal game, they would be playing three, one against each of the other teams left in the semifinals. The three teams that were left for Blind Brook to play were Oyster Bay, Windsor and Westhill. These games were played at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Different from a typical volleyball game, the teams only played the best of three sets, so the first team to win two of the sets would win the match. This method was the best way to make sure the two most competitive teams ended up playing in the final. From this pool play the two teams with the best records in the three games would move on to the finals the next day.
Their first match was against Oyster Bay, and Blind Brook was able to win the game in only two sets with the scores of 25-23 and 25-17. This undeniable win was a great way to start the pool play. When the game ended, Fernanda Julian had 30 assists, Ella Rosenfeld had 14 kills and two blocks, Oriah Rosenfeld had 15 kills and 11 digs, and Maria Leyva and Georgianna Haas each had seven digs.
The Blind Brook High School girls’ volleyball team poses in front of the school sign on Monday, Nov. 25 after winning the Class B state championship the day before.Emily Solow
Their second match was against Westhill. Blind Brook was not able to secure a win in this game, losing the match 2-1 with set scores of 25-22, 17-25 and 16-17. Julian had 23 assists, Ella Rosenfeld had seven kills, Oriah Rosenfeld had 15 kills, Leyva had 17 digs, Haas had 11 digs and Tanisha Venkatapur had five kills and seven digs. This was a tough loss going into the last game because they would need a minimum of two wins to advance.
In their last game against Windsor, Blind Brook won 2-0 with the set scores of 25-14 and 25-19. It was a dominating win, and it was clear that Blind Brook had the upper hand throughout. Julian had 11 assists, Ella Rosenfeld had 16 kills, Oriah Rosenfeld had 12 kills and 10 digs, Annabel Rosenfeld had six kills, Leyva had 10 digs and Venkatapur had three kills and six digs.
With two wins and one loss, it was up to how Blind Brook’s record stacked up against that of the other teams. Their record was good enough to move on to the finals. They were set to play at the same Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls at 11:30 a.m. the next day, but they would have to face Westhill again, the only team they lost to in pool play. Although the team was worried, they had overcome all odds to beat Valhalla in the Section 1 final game and had made it further than any Blind Brook volleyball team had ever gone before.
When Sunday morning rolled around, the Lady Trojans knew they had to stick to everything they had done in the past to achieve what they had come all this way to do. They wanted to leave the arena with the first state title Blind Brook volleyball had ever seen. This game was expected to be intense; these players had traveled long distances and had won so many games during their season to make it to this point, and neither team wanted to go home in second place.
Blind Brook entered the game with a winning mentality, and it guided them through the match. In the first set Blind Brook lost 19-25. Losing the first set was a tough setback, but it was not over yet. Westhill would have to win two more sets to prevail, and Blind Brook was not going to let that happen. They won the second set 25-19. The game was a level playing field now, and either team would need to win the next two sets to come out on top. Blind Brook won the next set by a small margin 26-24. This was such a close set that they had to go to an extra point because a team must win by two points in a set to be declared the winner. Blind Brook then won the third set by a similarly close margin with 25-23 the final score.
Blind Brook won a 3-1 game, which shocked many in attendance because they had lost to Westhill in pool play. In this final contest of the season, Julian had 41 assists, Madeline Hirsch had three blocks, Leyva had 12 digs, Ella Rosenfeld had 23 kills, three blocks and 16 digs, Oriah Rosenfeld had 20 kills and 12 digs, Annabel Rosenfeld had five kills, Venkatapur had three kills and two blocks, and Haas had 10 digs.
This game proved that Blind Brook was the best volleyball team in Class B in all of New York State.
Captain Fernanda Julian has been a member of the team for four years, and when it came to this fairytale ending, she said, “In the past years I would see my friends from other schools that I met through club volleyball go up to Glens Falls and bring home the plaque, and I always wished that I could experience it myself. If you told me three years ago that we would be state champions, I would probably laugh in your face. We went from being the #2 seed in sectional playoffs to being #1 in New York State in Class B. We went into the postseason just being grateful to continue playing and with the goal to have fun every game. When we secured our spot in the state finals, the magnitude of the accomplishment didn’t set in yet. We walked into the opening ceremony hand in hand with the goal of just having fun and playing as a unit. We went on to play the best we ever had, and when that last ball hit the floor, we made history.
“There are no other people that I would rather have shared that experience with, and it was the best possible way for my athletic career at Blind Brook to end,” Julian concluded.
Head Coach Gina Carlone was complimentary of both the team members and her coaching staff. “It is a truly incredible feeling to have the opportunity to coach such a wonderful group of young women,” she said. “We worked on focusing our mind and body as well as developing a chemistry of trust and belief in ourselves and our team. My coaching staff, in particular, Coach Yannuzzi, was instrumental in preparing our girls and developing strategic game plans to be successful at the highest levels. This group of girls accomplished something that will inspire generations of girls to pick up a volleyball for the first time. Our mantra for the season was being grateful for the opportunity to play together and to focus on fun. This allowed us to maintain our composure during even the most stressful of points during the state finals. We never cracked under pressure, and we truly thrived as a team and family.”
Blind Brook is the only team in Class B that can say they ended their season with a win, and they are extremely proud to be that team after all the hard work they put in this year, and for some of these girls, this victory was four years in the making.
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