Massapequa Girls V'ball Champs savor victory and look to the future
by Christopher Vaccaro

When you talk about Long Island high school sports dynasties, the current Massapequa girls varsity volleyball program has to be on top of the list.

This year, it added another title, this one the New York State Championship, to its list of accomplishments and it keeps keep piling up the wins for head coach Carol Ann Habeeb-Kiel.

"I did not expect to win states," admits Habeeb- Kiel, who was elated about the victory. "We were expecting to win counties and our goal was to get off Long Island, but when we got to states [my team] played [its] best compared to the whole season."

The Lady Chiefs won their eighth consecutive Nassau County title, after beating East Meadow, then beat Ward Melville to win the Long Island title and defeated Penfield High in the New York State Finals.

After beating Penfield in the first round of pool play, the players sat and watched some of the other teams and Habeeb-Keil said her team, "came in looking comfortable and excited, but after watching the other teams we thought there was no reason why we shouldn't win this tournament."

They were 48-0 in as far as individual games within matches during regular season play, and finished with a remarkable 68-3 game record. Their only loses were against Ward Melville in the Long Island title match, and against Penfield in pool play, and again in the finals.

Shown in photo, left to right are: Front row, Katey Foran, Kelley Collins, Carolyn Furman, Julie Bies. Middle Row, Ali Silk, Dana Vosilla, Briana Wallace, Dristen Silk, Samantha Berna. Back Row: Janine Aldridge, Katie Bryson, Coach CarolAnn Habeeb-Kiel, Kim Giaquinto, Tara Annunziata.

Aside from the actual championship, the team took home the New York State Sportsmanship Award for Class AA.

There were six seniors who made a major impacts on this year's title winning team, as well as over the last three or four years. Senior captains Janine Aldridge and Kelley Collins were honored as members of the All-State First Team as well as All-Long Island. Aldridge was also the Nassau County MVP.

Carolyn Furman was All-State Second Team and Kim Giaquinto and Tara Annunziata were named to the All-Tournament upstate team along with the others mentioned. All of these girls should play volleyball on the collegiate level, but nothing has been made official with any schools yet. Aldridge will play basketball on a full-scholarship at William & Mary next year.

The Lady Chiefs may not be as dominating next year, but their younger talent was able to watch a championship team this year and learn.

"You can expect another talented team," Habeeb-Kiel said.

And, you can expect more wins and titles too.

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