Rye High Girls’ Volleyball 

Garnets Rebound from Loss to Mamaroneck in Shutout of Port Chester 

By Mitch Silver 

March 30 saw Head Coach Geri Jones’ Garnets fall to Mamaroneck in straight sets. After the game, the seven-year veteran coach saw much to work on. 

“We just couldn’t seem to get ourselves in the game,” she said. “There were moments when we looked like Rye volleyball, but there weren’t enough of them.” Julie Halasz had eight digs and senior Mara Ball had seven. Ball led the offense with six kills, but they weren’t enough to keep the team’s record from sliding to 2-3. 

Twenty-four hours later it was a different story. The Rams, coming in after a 3-1 loss to Edgemont, traveled down the Post Road for a noon matchup with the Garnets, played before a handful of parents and the JV teams. The opening set was a back and forth affair, with each team holding only a one- or two-point lead up until it was tied 20-20. Then Rye strung four points together and put the set away with a serve that fell to the floor among three Port Chester players. Rye 25, Port Chester 21. 

The next two sets were not nearly as tight, as Rye’s servers committed fewer unforced errors. The scores were 25-9 and 25-8.  

After the game, Coach Jones was much happier with her team’s play. “We’re serving better,” she said, “and we’re communicating better. We can still take better advantage of the IQ of our middle hitters, but we’ve come a long way. A couple of our girls never played volleyball before this season, so their improvement is impressive.” 

Because this “Fall 2” season has been cobbled together by the interscholastic powers-that-be, Rye’s volleyball team would play its third game in three days with a trip to Eastchester—a team the Garnets already beat at home by three sets to two — April 1.