Clarke Girls Volleyball Rammed Out of the Playoffs

The girl's volleyball team's postseason run didn't last too long.  About an hour, to be exact.

The 8th seeded Rams were swept out of the first round of the Nassau Class B playoffs by top seed Floral Park, 25-9, 25-9, 25-15 on Wednesday night.

"Not to take anything away from [Floral Park], but we absolutely beat ourselves today, we just didn't play like we had all season," Rams coach Janine Heilbronn said shortly after her team's season came to an end.

No matter who was beating who, Floral Park started fast and never looked back.  The Knights got off to a 10-0 lead in the first set, behind the serving of Kerry MacDonald, who wound up with 14 aces on the day.

"Her serve had good spin," Clarke's Juila Cast said.

The Rams finally got on the board with a Kaitlyn Kieser spike, but as would be the case throughout the evening, Floral Park was never really threatened, taking the opening set, 25-9.

Clarke put on a spirited effort in the second set, but still fell behind 5-0.  The Rams trailed by as many as 15, before losing by the same 25-9 score.

"We tried our best," Clarke's Stephanie Costello said.  "I feel like we could've played better because it was really the tension that got to us, I feel like if we loosened up it would've been a better match, but [Floral Park] is a good team."

The Rams fell behind 11-0 in the third set, before putting together their best rally of the night, at one point scoring seven straight points behind Kieser's serving.  The junior hitter notched four service aces to go along with six digs.

Clarke got as close as 14-10 at one point, before the Knights finished the set, and the Ram season, 25-15 to wrap things up.

Cast registered six kills for the Rams, and Stephanie Bogda added five assists in the losing effort.

"We played to [Clarke's] weaknesses," Floral Park coach Kathy Crowley said after the win.  "My hitter came up big, my defense came up big, my serving came up big, what can I say?"

Gina Garcia notched 12 kills and five blocks, and MacDonald added 25 assists to pace the Knights, who will face Seaford in the semifinals on Saturday.

It was an abrupt end to a strong season for Clarke, and at the same time a learning experience for the players as well.

"I feel as a team we grew a lot over the year. Coach Heilbronn's a new coach, and we really warmed up to her. She really taught us a lot about the sport as well as how much we love the game itself," Costello said.

With one year under her belt, Janine Heilbronn is looking forward to next season, which she hopes lasts deeper into the fall than this campaign did.

"Hopefully they recognize how much working in the offseason can benefit them. Their commitment to it can be tremendously beneficial," coach Heilbronn said.