Goldstein’s Chrissy Mckeever had 19 assists, five kills and three blocks to lead the Dolphins. (Damion Reid)
Goldstein went back to the drawing board this week. Coach Tzion Halali changed the rotation, then changed it back.
The Dolphins were one of last year’s peskiest teams, an upstart from the ‘B’ division picking off big-name programs in tournaments. That didn’t happen in a disappointing showing last week at the Secondary School for Law, Journalism and Research tournament, where Goldstein didn’t make it out of pool play.
“We were all down on ourselves,” Halali said.
They picked themselves up pretty quickly.
Down a set in the finals of the Seward Park girls volleyball tournament, Goldstein gutted out the next two to beat Newcomers, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, and win the championship Sunday in Lower Manhattan. It was almost identical to the Dolphins’ 22-25, 25-20, 25-19 win over archrival FDR in a PSAL Brooklyn B6 match Friday.
“We never put our heads down,” senior setter Chrissy McKeever said. “We know we can come back.”
Goldstein, which beat host Seward Park in the semis, was behind, 23-22, to Newcomers in the third set after a kill by Lions senior outside hitter Magda Golonko. But McKeever dinked a tip into the middle of the defense to tie the set at 23 and put the Dolphins ahead, 24-23, with another perfectly placed tip.
“She’s an athlete,” Halali said. “That’s what she is. She’s always working on the court. But when she’s down and she’s out, that’s it the team is out.”
McKeever wouldn’t let her team lose Sunday. For that, among other things, she was named Seward Park tournament most valuable player. Those tips she showcased to seal things didn’t even become part of her repertoire until Friday’s match with FDR, the team that upset Goldstein in last year’s PSAL Class B semifinals.
“I always look for the holes,” said McKeever, who helped the Goldstein girls basketball team win the PSAL Class B title last year. “I finally learned how to tip. … Now I’m comfortable with it. I used to always hit the net.”
Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Herchenroder finished with 15 kills and four aces to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Her 4-0 service run in the third set was enormous, extending an 18-17 lead to a 21-17 advantage. McKeever had 19 assists, five kills and also two blocks – she’s typically the team’s only blocker with five others back on defense.
“They’re a very good defensive team,” Newcomers coach Kert Fernandez said. “It’s very hard to find an open spot on the floor.”
That was Goldstein’s calling card last year when it finished second at the Seward Park and John F. Kennedy tournaments. The Dolphins earned the top seed in the ‘B’ playoffs until being knocked off by FDR, a team it beat three times in the regular season.
“We talk about that all the time,” McKeever said. “Even losing that first set [Friday], we weren’t going to let the same thing happen again.”
Goldstein didn’t move up to Class A this year, though it would have been immediately competitive. But the Dolphins are OK with that. McKeever said they are bent on winning the ‘B’ title. As for Halali, he’s just happy things are back to normal.
“We played our old rotation again, but we fixed it,” he said. “We fixed our problems.”