Girls' Varsity Volleyball Wins Tournament

Back row L-R: Madison Horl, MVP Laura Haynes, Coach Opinante, Jenna Kirschner, Rebecca Langer, Allison Castel, Kaitlyn Olsen, Lisa Yanosik, Taylor Becker. Front Row L-R: Amanda Joyce, Jackie Bishop, Carolyn Cutrone.

The Garden City High School Girls' Varsity Volleyball team continued its winning ways by capturing the Long Beach Shoot-Out Invitational Volleyball Tournament on September 30th. By doing so, the Lady Trojans are a perfect 3 - 0 in tournaments this season -- UNPRECEDENTED in the Garden City record books! For her stellar play, Laura Haynes earned her 3rd Tournament MVP award, while Amanda Joyce and Jenna Kirschner were All-Tournament Team selections.

Enduring several grueling pool play games, GC advanced to the tournament playoffs and defeated Oceanside (25-22, 25-20) in the quarterfinals. GC went on to sweep conference rivals, West Hempstead (25-17, 25-22) in the semifinals, followed by a hard-fought win over a very tough Bellmore JFK team in the finals (25-20, 26-24) after falling behind 16-20 in Game 2. Midway through the final stanza, Garden City's tenacious defense shut down the Bellmore assault when it counted the most. Middle blockers Laura Haynes and Kaitlyn Olsen made it difficult for Bellmore to penetrate at the net with three key block solos and 4 partial blocks. In the backcourt, libero Jackie Bishop, the team's defensive specialist, and outside attackers Rebecca Langer and Carolyn Cutrone repeatedly came up big by digging several hard-driven shots and free balls. Transitioning smoothly, GC defenders repeatedly directed their passes to setters Jenna Kirschner and Allison Castel who orchestrated the multiple offenses. Amanda Joyce, Kaitlyn Olsen, and Laura Haynes left no doubts with repeated unanswered attacks. Madison Horl, Taylor Becker, and Lisa Yanosik provided all-around solid support.

The Lady Trojans ended their week with 3-game sweeps over Hewlett, East Rockaway, Floral Park, and Oyster Bay on route to a 9-0 regular conference record. At the halfway mark of the season, GC turns its attention this week toward Roslyn and a much-anticipated return match at Bellmore JFK. Coach Opinante commented that "A key factor in our team's success is largely attributed to a positive attitude. We maintain an attitude of hard work, tough play and no backing down, even when the going gets tough. "No ball drops" is just one of our mottos. As long as we stay healthy and we maintain a high intensity level during play, we're going to make lots of noise in Nassau County".