Thomasina Lenzi was unhappy with her team’s performance last week in the John F. Kennedy tournament. Midwood finished just third in its pool, including a split with Goldstein, from PSAL Class B.
“We were really flat that day,” the coach said. “We just couldn’t seem to get out of the block.”
There were no such problems Sunday. Midwood beat Kennedy in the Seward Park tournament championship match and got a measure of revenge on Goldstein in the semifinals. Junior middle hitter Shannon Appel was named tournament MVP.
With the PSAL seeding meeting Monday and the playoffs starting Saturday, it was a good time for the Hornets to hold strong.
“It’s nice to win every tournament,” Lenzi said. “It’s nice now, because there are a lot of teams there that were division champions. It’s good to strut yourself a little bit.”
Midwood, which won the Brooklyn A3 title, has been a bit banged up. Traci Kent, who was vital at Seward on Sunday, is still getting over a knee injury and Geena Bell, a key defensive specialist, is injured as well. Girls like Sam Edelstein, Jackie Handy, freshman Veronica Ceselka, Desarie Torres and especially Pei Ling Chen have had their roles increased with Bell out.
“People are really stepping up,” Lenzi said.
Kennedy, the Bronx A1 winner, defeated Brooklyn A2 champ Brooklyn Tech in the semifinals Sunday. Knights libero Suada Ibric was named to the all-tournament team.
Goldstein, the late-season’s breakout team, actually won Kennedy’s pool, though, with McKee/Staten Island Tech finishing third and missing the playoffs. Brooklyn Tech finished first in its pool followed by Midwood and Tottenville.
Vixens prevail: Stuyvesant got a big end-of-the-season boost, winning the Bayard Rustin tournament Sunday after topping Hunter College HS, 2-1, in the final.
“It’s more about survival,” Vixens coach Phil Fisher said. “I don’t think we lose the middle game to Hunter if we weren’t exhausted.”
Stuy, the Manhattan A4 champ, beat Grand Street Campus in the semifinals and Hunter, the Manhattan A5 winner, ousted Forest Hills in the semis. Both teams won their pools. Queens A7 champion Long Island City had a disappointing, third-place finish behind Stuyvesant and Forest Hills in pool play.
“It’s a lot of team togetherness,” Fisher said. “We’re still getting better. This is a good chance to work on communication.”
Cardinal Spellman 3, Maria Regina 1: Karin Arias had nine kills, Olivia O’Farrill had seven kills and Caitlin Huber had 24 digs to lead Spellman (10-5) in a CHSAA New York Archdiocesan consolation match. The Pilots will be the No. 3 seed from the Archdiocese in next week’s CHSAA Class A state tournament at Spellman.
Siobhan Flattery had nine assists and five aces, Laura McCaffrey had eight assists and Cari English had five blocks and 13 digs.