Fontbonne’s Kara Egan has been a clutch player all season. (Damion Reid)
New York Post girls volleyball beat writer Marc Raimondi takes a look at Thursday’s CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens championship match.
6:30 p.m. – Fontbonne Hall vs. St. Francis Prep @ Christ the King HS
St. Francis Prep Terriers
Head coach: Kevin Colucci
Record: 11-0
Player to watch: Talia Colasante
How they got here: Won Queens division; beat Bishop Kearney, 3-0, in semifinals
Fontbonne Hall Bonnies
Head coach: Linda Strong
Record: 13-0
Player to watch: Kara Egan
How they got here: Won Brooklyn division; beat Mary Louis, 3-2, in semifinals
Outlook: This is a rematch of last year’s semifinals. No one really gave Fontbonne Hall a chance in that match against a very talented St. Francis Prep team that went on to finish third in the CHSAA Class AA state tournament. But the Bonnies beat the Terriers in the first set and pushed them harder than any team up until that point in Brooklyn/Queens.
St. Francis Prep lost all but one hitter from that 2008 team; Fontbonne brings almost everyone back. Does that mean the Bonnies are the favorites? Not quite.
Queens has dominated the league for almost a decade. A Brooklyn team hasn’t made the finals before now since Bishop Kearney won the title in 2001. The Terriers are trying to win their third straight crown, which hasn’t been done since Christ the King won eight in a row, ending in 2000.
So no matter what happens Thursday night, history will be made. Both teams will come in very confident. SFP has the swagger of a group that hasn’t lost a Brooklyn/Queens match. Fontbonne, meanwhile, sees itself as the team of destiny, fate’s pick to win the Bay Ridge school’s first title since 1994.
Last year, it was an intriguing matchup, because Prep was such a strong hitting team and Fontbonne was scrappy and defensive minded. Both teams are more well balanced this time around. The Terriers lost fire power, but have made up for it with precision passing, terrific defense – especially by libero Jillian Linares and – a handful of capable hitters. The Bonnies are still terrific defensively — Justina Johnson is brilliant libero — but are taller with middles Amanda Glodowski and Lauren Ganun and pack more punch than they did in 2008.
Both teams run a 6-2 with two setters. Prep sports Nicole Rivera and Julia Hannigan, who has emerged as one of the better all-around players in New York City. Fontbonne has senior stalwart Sarah McCarthy, who is an absolute rock, and Katie Lang, a sophomore who plays like she’s been around since the team’s last title run.
For Fontbonne to win, it needs to do everything it does well – passing and defense – and find a hot hitter. Kara Egan absolutely carried the Bonnies offensively against Kearney when they snapped the Tigers 183-match, 14-year winning streak in September. She was nearly unstoppable.
St. Francis, which took a set off powerhouse Francis Lewis in a scrimmage this week, could use the same. We know Linares will be steady and Hannigan and Rivera will put the ball wherever the hitter wants it. Sara Correa will bring a strong service game and Danielle LoBosco and Rita Romeo will pass well. The key to the match is one of the hitters – Talia Colasante, Leah Nebbett, Diane Lollo, Julia Paternoster and company – going on a tear. And it really could be any of them at any time.
Colasante, just a sophomore, did that in the Terriers’ first meeting with Mary Louis. Nebbett did it in the second meeting with TMLA. Lollo has been very consistent and Paternoster always seems to make a play when needed, whether it be a block with her great leaping ability or a service run.
It’s that kind of balance that has made St. Francis Prep great this year. And it’s why the Terriers are the favorites for three in a row.