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Chaminade spikes St. Francis Prep for title

By Dylan Butler

The St. Francis Prep boys’ volleyball team handed Chaminade its lone loss of the season, but according to Flyers coach Sal Trentacoste, that was exactly what his team needed heading into the Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association championship match May 19.

“Coaches around Chaminade say if you’re going to lose, especially when we ran 13 in a row, better to get it out of the way during the regular season so the pressure is off,” Trentacoste said of the four-set defeat May 12. “And unfortunately we had that kind of pressure take the championship away from us.”

Chaminade came into the title tilt at Adelphi University loose and ready, and it controlled the match from the outset, defeating St. Francis Prep, 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-13, to capture an unprecedented third consecutive league crown.

“Chaminade came out and played really well. They changed things up from the last time that we beat them, and they really picked our defense apart,” said St. Francis Prep coach Kevin Colucci. “They played real solid all the way around.”

The top-seeded Flyers altered their strategy slightly from the last match, not opting for cross-court winners as they had a week earlier. Chaminade (16-1) went with a more direct approach and was led by senior Tommy Lobben, who had 33 assists; junior James Zenker, who had 16 kills; and Ryan Gilmore who had 14 kills.

“We forced them to play their best game possible and they didn’t make that many mistakes,” said St. Francis Prep senior setter Adam Curatolo, who had 30 assists. “Our strategy was to make them hit cross court a lot more and they hit a lot of lines today.”

Trentacoste wanted his team relaxed coming into the match and showed them a motivational tape with clips from Rudy and the water volleyball scene from Meet the Parents at the school before heading to Garden City.

The plan apparently worked, as Chaminade, which cruised to a three-set win over St. Anthony in the semifinal, won the first set on Zenker’s serve as Gilmore clinched it with a spike.

No. 2 St. Francis Prep (12-5) jumped ahead, 8-4, in the second set, but Chaminade wrestled the lead back on a service ace by Zenker. The Flyers won five straight points on John Mongonia’s serve and Zenker closed the set out with a kill.

“Last game we had more control, more confidence and we played with heart both games. But this game we weren’t able to get as many balls over as we wanted to,” said St. Francis Prep middle hitter Walter Puddoubny.

The Terriers, who beat Kellenberg in a five-set thriller in the semifinals, won five straight points on Puddoubny’s serve to take a 20-15 lead in the third set and went up 24-19 on a spike by Brian Amorese (nine kills). Chaminade got within 24-23 before St. Francis Prep won the set.

Chaminade controlled the fourth set from the start, capitalizing on several St. Francis Prep unforced errors and won the school’s eighth league title when Louie Demopoulos’ diving dig attempt bounced out of bounds.

“We made a lot of unforced errors,” said Colucci, whose team also lost to Chaminade in the title game in 2002 and won the crown in 1996. “I told them, ‘make them earn all their points.’ Unfortunately they did earn a lot of them, but we gave up a lot, too.”

Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.