Rye volleyball captured the first section tournament title in program history Saturday.
After sweeping their first three playoff opponents, the Garnets dropped a set for the first time this postseason before storming back for a 3-1 victory over Tappan Zee at Westchester County Center.
“The experience today was amazing,” said head coach Geri Jones. “I am so proud of the girls.”
As Section 1 champions, Rye (18-4) advances to a sub-regional match against Section 9 champion Port Jervis at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Mount St. Mary’s College.
After winning the first two sets 25-22 on Saturday, the Garnets fell 25-9 in set three before closing the match out with yet another 25-22 win in set four.
“Going into the fourth set, I was still confident that we would be fine as long as we went back to achieving our goals and working toward what we’ve practiced to do,” Jones said. “We did that much of the fourth set, which is the reason why we were able to pull out a win.”
The Garnets’ stat leaders were senior Emma Lunstead (34 digs), senior Phoebe Greto (17 kills), junior Amelie Modesto (38 assists), and freshman Audre Campbell (six blocks). Other players on the scoresheet included senior Valeria Medina, junior Margo Ehrenberg, freshman Elena Lin, and sophomore Katie Hillis, who scored the match-winning point.
“We played around with our hitters as Tappan Zee was able to adjust (to us),” Jones said. “It worked out very well considering that Katie Hillis was the one who hit the winning kill, so the depth of our lineup helped us out once again.”
Rye has won eight of its past nine matches entering its first Class A state tournament appearance. With a win Tuesday, the Garnets will advance to a state quarterfinal match against either Southside or Half Hollow Hills West, which is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at John Jay-Cross River.
