In front of a large crowd for their home opener, the Rye volleyball team swept Brewster on Saturday on the brand-new high school gym floor.
The Garnets have won six straight to improve to 7-1 on the season, all without the benefit of a home-court advantage until this weekend.
“We were happy to be home,” said Rye coach Geri Jones, “but one of the things we’re focusing on — I told you we all read ‘Inner Excellence’ — is being focused and being present, so it doesn’t really matter where we play.”
The victory was the second in two days for Rye, who won 3-1 Friday at Ossining (25-20, 21-25, 25-6, 25-13) before blanking Brewster 3-0 on Saturday (25-23, 25-21, 25-17).
Junior setter Amelie Modesto continues to run the offense up front, contributing 34 assists (four kills, three digs) on Friday and 21 assists (one block, seven digs) Saturday. Senior Phoebe Greto led the team with six kills Saturday, along with five blocks.
“We did well offensively, but our greatest strength is our defense,” said Jones. “They keep making amazing plays to get the ball into Amelie and Lexi (Kessner’s) hands. We are having fun.”
While the team is happy to add home games back to the schedule as midseason approaches, the Garnets also suffered a loss on Saturday. Senior middle Olivia Lewis, who led Rye with 16 kills against Ossining, had four kills against Brewster before leaving the match with an ankle sprain. Jones believed it would be a speedy recovery, but this is where Rye benefits from the versatility and depth it’s shown all season.
“We just met in the locker room,” Jones said of her conversation with Lewis, “and I said, ‘As terrible as it is, we have seven other outside hitters that are going to go in there and be just fine.’ Will she be missed? 100 percent. Will we be OK without her? Yes. And that’s 100 percent credit to the girls for how hard they work.”
Jones also said the leadership of the Garnets’ three senior captains – Greto, Medina, and Emma Lunstead – will help the team maintain its winning ways while one of their key players recovers.
“The captains are amazing,” Jones said. “I could not have three better leaders than them. The three of them on the court together — I don’t worry about anything, they have it under control.”
Rye plays back-to-back matches again Monday and Tuesday. The Garnets go to Mahopac for a non-league match at 5 p.m. Monday before returning home to face Ardsley at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
