Long Beach Girls Volleyball Posts Statement Win

This story was written by Andrew Coen.

The Wantagh girls volleyball program has captured the last three Nassau County Class A titles but Long Beach proved Thursday that a four-peat won’t come so easy for the Lady Warriors.

Long Beach earned an early-season statement win with a three-seat victory against Wantagh by set scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-22. It was was Wantagh's first regular season Conference A setback since 2009.

Long Beach, which entered the season ranked fourth in the conference, pulled off Thursday's upset over the three-time reigning county champions on the strength of solid play at the net led by nine kills from senior co-captain Katherine Myers.

The Lady Marines (4-1) were also solid on serves with Justine Smith registering four aces to go along with 27 assists. Long Beach head coach Kerri Rehnback said beating a powerhouse team like Wantagh will serve as a major confidence boost for the rest of the season. 

"This was a huge win for us," Rehnback said following Thursday's victory before an enthusiastic home crowd in the Long Beach High School gymnasium.
"We did a lot of training to be prepared mentally and physically for matches like these." 

Wantagh entered Thursday's match at 4-0 in Conference A and head coach Katie McKeefrey said she hopes losing in straight sets will serve as a wake-up call going forward.

"They just can't go through the motions and expect to win," said McKeefrey, whose team entered the 2012 season as the top seed in Conference A-1. "This will hopefully serve as a learning experience." 

Long Beach returns to action at home against Herricks starting at 5 p.m. on Oct. 5.