Travel Day
Stopovers At Eldred Homecoming Grid Loss To Onteora And Sullivan West’s Volleyball Defeat To Tuxedo Yield Great Photos Amisdt Disappointing Local Outcomes
Football: Onteora 28, Eldred 22
Volleyball: Tuxedo defeats Sullivan West 25-18, 25-13, 25-15
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
Double trouble: Eldred and Sullivan West are both defeated in home encounters in football and volleyball respectively (Clockwise: Eldred players burst through the Homecoming banner held by cheerleaders prior to their 28-22 loss to Onteora. Tuxedo's Sara Neyman serves up an ace against Sullivan West. She had 25 service points, five aces and four digs in the 3-0 victory. Sullivan West''s Karalii Rabii was a bright spot for the Lady Bulldogs. She had nine service points a block and a kill. Eldred's Adam Schoch scores on the Yellow Jackets' opening drive. It was all the points they could muster for the rest of the half. Zak Dilles makes a shoestring tackle on Onteora's Chris Polo in the opening series by the Indians.
SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY—These days find me racing around trying to catch up on a spate of stories as the fall season hurtles towards its dramatic conclusion. As this was Homecoming Week in many area schools, I hastened to Eldred to capture pictures of the seniors and a brief interlude of the Yellow Jackets’ game against Onteora.
Eldred Seniors are honored prior to the Homecoming game.
Originally scheduled for October 14, the game was postponed due to impending rain, a downpour I withstood as I covered the Sullivan West Homecoming game versus Rondout Valley. The Eldred game could not be played on Saturday due to the SAT’s which a number of Onteora players were being taxed by so it was shifted to October 17.
A large crowd assembled on the hill to cheer on the Yellow Jackets. It’s been a tough season for Coach Pat Kean in his debut; one marked by a series of close games that resulted in a pair of crucial league losses to Chester and Livingston Manor/Roscoe. With only 17 players in the fold, substitutions have been sparse and with the playoff berth contention hinging on winning either one of those games, the Yellow Jackets find themselves on the outside looking in for the second year in arrow as their Class D rivals get set to dial it up in a rematch of last year’s Chester victory.
Two seasons back it was Eldred that was the dominant squad as Kean served as assistant to his dad Frank. That Eldred squad not only won Section Nine but beat out powerful Tuckahoe in a regional clash before losing to Moriah just one game shy of making it to the Carrier Dome.
Year in and year out, Eldred cheerleaders are a constant source of spirit.
This day’s festivities began with the honoring of seniors Tyler Knapp, Jordan Tice, Brian Grimm, Adam Schoch, Zak Dilles, Alec Martell, Anthony Moriggia,, Vinny Riina and T.J. VanHorn. Gang Green was clearly amped to keep hapless Onteora in the familiar confines of the losing column.
After all, the Indians had only one win in the past four years, a victory in the clash of the winless versus Fallsburg in last year’s season opener. Things began on a promising note as the Eldred defense led by the athletic Dilles stuffed Onteora far back at the Indians’ end of the field and then used the short field to marshal a quick scoring drive capped off by Adam Schoch’s 32-yard TD run, his second of the year.
Anthony Margarum kicked the PAT and Eldred had the 7-0 lead at 8:41 of the first quarter.
The sequence of details from the remainder of the game cannot be provided here as I was compelled to race back to Sullivan West to witness their attempt to clinch a volleyball playoff berth against dominant Tuxedo. More on that shortly.
First a word to the Eldred fans and players regarding my absence during the season and my hasty departure.
Eldred quarterback Anthony Margarum
For eight years I literally lived on the sidelines of Eldred football. For seven of those I was the sports editor at the River Reporter and Eldred was part of my beat. In addition, given my longstanding friendship and respect for Coach Frank Kean, I made it my business to always keep Eldred front and center in my lens and stories.
Following my departure from the paper to begin my own business venture in founding Sports Insights; sportsinsightsny.com, I solicited area schools to see which ones would engage me to cover all of their sports for a nominal fee and to provide them with slide shows for their award presentation nights. Five of them signed on including Sullivan West, Tri-Valley, Fallsburg, Monticello and Liberty.
Trying to cover every varsity sport season to season for those five school districts, and doing so all by my lonesome has been a daunting task. In the process I only get to photograph and write about Eldred sports when the Yellow Jackets are up against one of my schools. Sadly I missed the Eldred/Tri-Valley overtime game, won dramatically by Eldred in its stalwart defensive stand, as I was already committed to another fray on that occasion.
I have the utmost respect for Eldred athletics and will try and make myself less scarce during basketball season. Running sports like cross-country, indoor and outdoor track always find me close at hand as all the schools run against each other. In other sports, I’ll no doubt surface from time to time.
Perhaps in coming years, Eldred may become part of the widening circle of schools I cover and then my face will seem far more familiar once again.
After Schoch’s TD, Onteora scored 22 unanswered points in the first half to garner a 22-7 halftime lead.
Eldred held the Indians to a lone TD in the second half while scoring 15 points but came up short in the 28-22 defeat. Eldred fell to 2-5, while Onteora got its first win and improved to 1-6.
Chris Pollo rushed for 186 yards an had two touchdowns for Onteora. Pollo scored on runs of 45 and 2 yards Tim Schultis tossed two touchdown passes to Nick Occhi for six and 25 yards.
Zak Dilles had 10 carries for 81 yards for Eldred and Anthony Margarum threw for 139 yards.
Kean will look to rebuild his team from its strong Modified squad that currently is packed with talented freshman. Eldred will play Fallsburg next week in its season finale.
Lady Tornadoes Swirl Through Sullivan West Delaying Lady Bulldogs Needed Berth-Clinching Win For Playoffs
Facing tough teams like 13-3 Tuxedo is just the kind of preparation Sullivan West needs for its hoped for fifth straight year in the playoffs. But after losing in straight sets to the visiting Lady Tornadoes in a match that featured a competitive first game followed by two walkovers, the Lady Bulldogs are still one win shy of making it back to the dance.
Tuxedo senior Alexandra Gundermann pounds it home in a dominant play at the net. Tuxedo's advantage up front, coupled with fine service proved too much for the Lady Bulldogs after a competitive first game.
Sullivan West Coach Cliff Kelly was hoping his team would rise to the occasion and play the kind of volleyball he has seen them evince at times, something they did in the first game of the team’s initial meeting this year before falling apart in the subsequent games for the 3-0 loss.
A momentous recent win over Burke had the ladies in Carolina Blue and White looking to continue the magic but Tuxedo had other ideas as they put up a red light to put the brakes on the Westies’ bid to hand them a loss to any team other than dominant James. I. O’Neill.
Sullivan West got off to a good start as the teams battled to 5-5, 6-6, 7-7 in the early going before Tuxedo got ahead by a couple of points. Nice work by Melissa McCormack at the net had the Bulldogs back within one but Tuxedo’s strong net play widened the gap again. Sullivan West pulled ahead 14-13 with a nice serve by Erika Stauch.
Tuxedo regained the upper hand with deft net play from Kaitlyn Ratsep and the dynamic service of Sar Neyman. A kill by Kali Leu added to the margin as Tuxedo would go on to outscore Sullivan West 6-1 in the waning sequence of the game to garmer the 25-18 win for the 1-0 lead.
Ratsep began the service for the Lady Tornadoes to start game two. Neyman’s subsequent service which began with the Lady T’s leading 2-1 helped the red storm get out to a 12-1 lead before the Lady Bulldogs broke through to end her service run. Brittney Milk served for two points before Kelly Ross began to hold sway from the Tuxedo service line.
Powerful spikes led to poor first touches by the Lady Westies who seemed to be playing back on their heels and lacking the fire needed to counteract the powerful onslaught. Karalii Rabii got the Westies on a roll as they closed the gap to 17-12. Tuxedo regrouped to scored go on a 6-0 run to make it 23-12 before closing out the 25-13 win for the 2-0 lead.
Sullivan West's Rebecca Corcillo rises up to block a ball sent over by Tuxedo's Kaitlyn Ratsep.
A service error by Sullivan West began an inauspicious third game. With Neuman serving the Lady Tornadoes got out to a 10-0 lead. Barbara Whittaker had a pair of aces for Sullivan West. The Lady Tornadoes sailed along to a 13-5 margin before a brief lapse in communication afforded the Lady Westies a point. That brought Rabii back to the line but only for a pair of points as the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t sustain any momentum.
The Bulldogs fought back to get it to 20-15 before Tuxedo closed it out with a 5-0 run.
Tuxedo Coach Michelle Mickolos talked about her team which lost to Burke in the first round. This year Tuxedo may be the fourth seed though it’s hard to know what is going on in the MHAL. Rhinebeck has a good record as does Millbrook.
“I have six seniors out of my nine players,” noted Micklos. They include setter Kelly Ross, Alexandra Gundermann, outside hitter Kaitlyn Ratsep, Brittany Catino who is currently sidelined and Alexandra Savarese who wasn’t here for this game.”
Three of the Lady Tornadoes play all year round, Kaitlyn Ratsep and Kelly Ross play for Whoosh, while Kali Leu for the Falcons. “They put in the time,” she added.
Sullivan West Coach Cliff Kelly tells his team, "We're better than this," reminding them that they'v e got to play with more consistency in the coming playoffs against tough teams like Tuxedo, O'Neill etc.
Sullivan West Coach Cliff Kelly had this to say: “I expected to play like we played in the first game and battle them,” he noted while referencing the similarity to the first encounter earlier this season. “We played very well and looked good. Then they kick it in and let them do what they want,” he added.
Kelly had told his girls during a time out, “We’re better than this.”
When you play a great game like the first one, you expect to play three great games,” he noted calling this a tune up for a sectional game..”We have to make a better showing. I told my team we have to be in the 20’s in every game. We don’t have a lot of big offensive attacks because our first touches are not what they should be. They’re good servers and they put you right on your defense just sending the ball back over giving them the initial attack.
They hit over the top of our block and I don’t have a problem with that. They’re just more athletic than us,” he observed.
Kelly hopes to get ten wins to avoid O’Neill in the first round. That might give him Tuxedo instead. In either case it’s a long ride, something he is used to taking. Can you say Millbrook! The closest place was Ellenville where the Lad y Bulldogs got a sectional win a couple of years back.
Sullivan West travels to Liberty on October 19 in an attempt to secure the playoff berth clincher. “They’re getting better. You can’t take anyone for granted,” concluded Kelly.
Top performers included:
Tuxedo: Sarah Neyman 25 service points; 5 aces; 4 digs; Kelly Ross 18 assists; 9 serv ice points; 4 kills; 3 digs; Kali Leu 11 service points; 10 kills; 2 blocks.
Sullivan West: Karalii Rabii 9 service points; block, kill; Erica Stauch 5 service points; 5 digs; Melissa McCormack 3 digs; 2 service points; 2 kills.
Records: Tuxedo 13-3 (13-3 OCIAA); Sullivan West 8-6 (8-6 OCIAA).
For albums of photos from the football and volleyball games, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Back To Basics
Monticello Sweeps Non-League Series Against Sullivan West As Teams Approach New Season Stressing Fundamentals
Non-league: Monticello d. Sullivan West 3-1
Game scores: 26-24, 25-11, 21-25, 25-15
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
Season opening series: Monticello completes the sweep of the season opening non-;league matches against Sullivan West by a 3-1 score in a closely contested series of games. Clockwise: 2011 Lady Monties- Front row left to right: Katryna Rokicki, Cassi Smithem, Katie Fisher. Second row: Aimee Rice, Yadira Montes, Kiyara Bracy and Shamira Moore. Third row:: Dayanara Torres, Yamilersy Reyes, Saige Sanford, Shivani Patel, Marcella Fernandez and Ashley Falu. Katie Fisher serves and Yadira Montes does her magic at the net. Bottom right: Chelsie Stauch returns a serve and Karalii Rabii readies for a volley. Lady Bulldogs 2011: Front row left to right: Rebecca Corcillo and Brittney Milk. Second row: Courtney Landers, Karalii Rabii, Brittany Roa, Barbara Whittaker, Melissa McCormack, Alexa Buday, Chelsie Stauch and Erika Stauch.
LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY—A new season is always about starting over. But for Monticello iconic coach Karen Atack, losing ten of her players who graduated last June makes that phrase even more literally accurate.
With only four seniors on the roster including just two who saw significant playing time last year in Katie Fisher and Cassi Smithem, Atack’s youngsters have their work cut out for them as they face a bevy of Class AA teams in their schedule in addition to juggernaut division rival Cornwall and other league contenders in Port Jervis and Goshen. Veteran junior Katryna Rokicki was also part of last year’s fine team and as the team’s first server, she looks to try and lend her expertise to the cause.
That said, even with the exit of so much talent, Class A Monticello has emerged 2-0 with a pair of match wins over Class C Sullivan West.
For their part, the Lady Bulldogs ably coached by Cliff Kelly is fielding a time almost entirely blessed with prior experience. Having made sectionals for the past three years in a row, Sullivan West, with only two seniors in the fold in Rebecca Corcillo and Brittney Milk, look sharper and more cohesive than they did a year ago.
Monticello's first server: junior veteran Katryna Rokicki
The result was much closer play against Monticello, a team that in prior years bested them far more easily. In fact, Sullivan West won the second game of this match by the score of 25-11 riding the overpowering service of junior Karalii Rabbi who posted a game-high 21 points to go along with her two blocks and four kills.
The teams looked very evenly matched in the opening set as the Monties prevailed 26-24 in a game Kelly felt really could easily have been won by his squad. He challenged his team in the break between sets and the Lady Bulldogs answered the challenge in the second set as they dominated Monticello 25-11.
The Lady Monties led by the opening service of Rokicki bolted out to a 7-0 lead. Rokicki ripped a quartet of aces in that initial surge. Sullivan West fought back but couldn’t muster a sustained run as the Monties prevailed 25-18 for the win. In their prior match staged in the Monticello Pit, Monticello won games to one, oddly beginning the set with another 26-24 nail biter.
After this match Atack noted, “We’ll take the win. We still have a lot to work on. Tonight different people stepped up in different areas. Katryna served first for a reason. She did lead in serves. Yadira Montes is supposed to be the leading person handling balls at the net which she did. We still need basic skills. These girls are very willing to work hard and together. I’m happy with certain things, but realistically we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us. Fundamental skill is nearly where it needs to be. We did have some communication problems. Monticello faces three games in the next three school days as they begin the next part of their schedule taking on Class AA Kingston, Washingtonville and Valley Central.
Kelly said, “We had our moments and our opportunities to win these games. We just shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. We had good servers and good positions. “ Kelly feels his team is better than it was a year ago. Sullivan West is entering the league portion of its schedule with matches against Fallsburg, Liberty and Tuxedo.
Monticello top performers: Katie Fisher 12 points, 5 kills; Yadira Montez 9 points, 7 assists, 10 kills.
Sullivan West top performers: Karalii Rabii 21 points, 2 blocks, 4 kills, 4 digs; Rebecca Corcillo 4 points, 2 blocks, 5 kills, 2 digs; Erica Stauch 8 points; Chelsea Stauch 6 points, 5 kills; Melissa McCormack 6 points, 4 blocks, 4 digs.
Team records: Monticello 2-0; Sullivan West 0-2.
For an album of photos visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
