On November 15, the Massapequa High School girls’ varsity volleyball team participated in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) State Championship Tournament at the Glen Falls Civic Center in Glen Falls, New York. Despite leaving the tournament with the title of third-place — a significant improvement in the state standings from the previous fourth place spot — the team was both proud of their season and yet vexed concerning the outcome of the State Championship that left room for improvement.

Senior Allie Dillon, team captain and outside hitter, was especially displeased with the outcome. “I will never be satisfied with not being a state champion,” Dillon stated. “I wanted nothing more than to have the most successful season be my senior year”.

Regardless, Allie mentions that “It’s crazy to think that this really was my last season because it’s [volleyball] been such a huge part of my life,” and that “I could not have asked for better underclassman to have and I am still extremely happy with what we’ve done this season”.

Nicole Furka, a current MHS junior and defensive specialist/outside hitter, was also impressed with how the team did this season. “I’m so proud of us that we won counties another year and we won Long Islands the second year in a row,” Furka said.

The team played in six rounds against three teams in a pool play style tournament. The Chiefs played against Shenendehowa Central High School, Suffern High School, and Penfield High School in that order. The team itself did extremely well against both Suffern High, and Penfield High. The NYSPHSAA ranked Suffern as the first seed and Penfield as the fifth seed.

The Chiefs tied Penfield 25-25, then beat them in a second game ending with a score of 27-15. The team would also lose 25-18 once to Suffern before turning the tables and beating them 25-18 in a second round.

Shenendehowa Central High proved to be the most challenging opponent, however. According to the record, the Chiefs lost the first game 25-21 but won the second game 19-25.

Furka went on to mention that several factors played in the team’s state championship tournament outcome. “We had many injuries, illnesses and ‘bad luck’ this season. We worked hard for it and being at states was a huge accomplishment.”

Although Massapequa had three wins under their belt, the tie technically counted as a loss and gave the Chiefs three losses at the end of the day. This left them to claim third place in the tournament with their tournament record of 3-3.

“It was such a high pressure situation and a very different atmosphere to play in, it hurt us a little more than normal,” Allie said. “Each game was simply a coin flip, we took a set from every team. We played well and they played just a little better.”

That statement is absolutely true although it is not easy to play against three teams from upstate New York at a tournament in upstate New York and win against each team once. If that tie counted as a win, the record would have been 4-2. Still, to walk away with a 3-3 record and the third-place title without a home-field advantage was huge for the Chiefs.

Allie explained that they are a real team and that there is “not one girl” who does it all like other high school volleyball teams.

“We all need each other in every aspect,” Allie said. “We are very dependent on one another to do each of our jobs and I think that is a huge part of why we were so successful.”

Now that the season is over for the team and a new one dawns on the horizon, the question of what is next for the girls’ volleyball team has come up. Besides hopes of returning to the state championship next year and winning, Nicole Furka was happy to inform me that next year season will be a big one, since there will be five seniors next year who will try to grow into the shoes of great players like Allie Dillon.

“Although we are going to miss all the seniors, we are motivated to continue the legacy of the Massapequa girls volleyball team,” Furka said.

In regards to the problems they faced during the season, Nicole stated that next year she and the rest of the team will work on “keeping our positivity up on the court.”

Rarely does a team accomplish so much in one season and succeed at a sport they love. Though these girls and their extraordinary team may be third in the state, they are certainly first in our hearts.