The Francis Lewis girls volleyball team’s ability is well documented in New York City. The Patriots have won the last two PSAL Class A city championships and last season they were undoubtedly the top team in the Big Apple.
On Saturday, Lewis had a chance to show just how good it is against top-tier teams from around the area. The answer? The Patriots are right up there with the best squads in New York State.
Francis Lewis advanced to the Clarkstown South tournament championship bracket final, where it fell to two-time defending Class B state champion Hendrick Hudson, 25-18, 25-20, in Rockland County. Hen Hud is regarded as the top team in the state and Lewis, which travels to Clarkstown every year, was making its first appearance in the championship bracket in school history – let alone the final match.
“We were the talk of the town,” Patriots coach Arnie Rosenbaum said. “We were playing so good that instead of a one-game final, the Hen Hud coach asked if we would play a best-two-out-of-three match.”
Lewis won its pool with victories against Red Hook (25-18, 25-19, 25-10), North Rockland (25-14, 25-21, 25-13) and Old Tappan (25-18, 25-18, 18-25), the top-ranked team in New Jersey. In the quarterfinals, the Patriots beat Warwick, 25-22, and in the semis they defeated North Highlands, 25-15.
Alicja Pawelec led Lewis with 58 kills, 18 digs, 11 blocks and six aces for the tournament. She averaged nearly five kills per set. Pawelec, a 5-foot-10 senior middle hitter, was named to the all-tournament team. But then the Patriots agreed to give the honor to unheralded libero/outside hitter Jillian Escobar, who had somewhat of a coming out party.
Chereese Sheen had 34 kills, 14 aces, six digs, five blocks and four assists, Gyna Anthony had 14 kills, 24 digs and six aces and Hikari Miyazawa had 17 digs for Lewis. Alex Persaud, a first-time varsity starter, had six blocks, including three against Hen Hud.