BY CHUCK ADAMS | CONTRIBUTOR
They wanted to win so much they could almost taste it.
The Riverhead Blue Waves girls volleyball team rode into its first-round Suffolk County Class AA Tournament match against the Connetquot Thunderbirds last Thursday on a four-match winning streak. The 11th-seeded Blue Waves believed they had the talent and experience to knock off No. 6 Connetquot.
Riverhead came out pumped up and sparked by the play of Kara Vonatzski, Alex Budd, Ashley Brewer and Kelli Hartill. It won the first game, 25-23, but in the end, it was the wake-up call that host Connetquot needed to kick things up a notch and win the next three games, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15. It marks the second straight year in which Riverhead has bowed out in the first round.
"We really believed we could beat them," Riverhead Coach James Korte said. "We're heartbroken."
Riverhead 's passing was superb in the first game. Vonatzski had four of her 11 kills, and Budd recorded eight of her 22 assists in the opening game. Brewer had 12 digs in the match. Hartill was serving well. Riverhead was on a roll.
But in the second game, Connetquot (13-6), led by the all-around play of Deanna Briody (19 assists and 11 kills), Kaitlyn Fortier (10 kills) and Jessica Viscovich (15 digs and six service aces), began to hit the ball in spots the Blue Waves could not get to.
"Connetquot defended us well," Korte said. "They hit and tipped the ball just out of our reach."
While Riverhead (12-6) valiantly battled to keep the scores close, Connetquot was on too much of a roll to be denied.
Connetquot was itself eliminated from the tournament on Saturday by the No. 3 Smithtown West Bulls, who gained their 17th win in 19 matches.
Korte said his team was upset after last Thursday's match "because we wanted to prove we could get a playoff win and move forward." Nonetheless, he was proud of the way the Blue Waves improved as the season went along.
"We entered the playoffs on a high note," he said. "Our serving got better. We got tougher. We really felt we had a shot to win. Still, it was a good season for us. The girls really came together. When the going got tough, we did what we needed to do."
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