Jim MacLean Photos
Brooke DiBiccari returns serve for the Foxes. Madeline Barrett tries to dig one up for Fox Lane. Abby Zelenz keeps her eye on the ball.
By JIM MACLEAN
Fox Lane volleyball coach Kelly Kinlen has been waiting for her team to get healthy, and with a couple of starters back in the lineup the Foxes are showing signs of coming together for a strong finish.
However, Fox Lane knew what it was up against as rival Horace Greeley came to town Monday, Oct. 7, as the Quakers came into the match with an undefeated record. Fox Lane was coming off a win last week over White Plains and hoped to keep the momentum going, but suffered a 3-0 setback as Greeley improved to 11-0 overall.
“We’re still fighting, battling injuries, were missing three starters, but we played really well today with two of the starters back,” Kinlen said after the match against Greeley. “Coming off the holidays we were rusty in sets one and two, but they really played well in that third set.”
Fox Lane improved in each set against Greeley as the Foxes started to put together some passes and made the plays to earn points and make it a competitive match for the Quakers.
Horace Greeley came out strong and dominated the first set by the score of 25-6, but Fox Lane fought hard in the second set before falling 25-15.
Then the third set was a confidence builder for Fox Lane as the Foxes came out strong and kept fighting for each point. Abby Zelenz served up the first four-points of the game to give Fox Lane a 4-0 lead, and then Azi Brown served four more points and the Foxes were up 8-1.
Greeley responded and fought back to tie it up at 14-14, but Fox Lane refused to give up and answered. It went back-and-forth from there as both teams made big plays. Tied up at 18-18, Fox Lane took the lead as Madeline Barrett had a kill and Samantha Barrett served up three-straight points to make it 21-18. Greeley tied it up at 21-21, but the Foxes regained the lead at 24-22.
Fox Lane couldn’t close it out as Greeley tied it back up at 24-24, and the Quakers completed the sweep with a 27-25 victory.
Despite the loss, Kinlen was impressed with the performance of her team, especially in that third set as the Foxes kept fighting for each point.
“My senior libero, Brooke DiBiccari, had a really great game, definitely built her confidence up over the three sets and decided she could be out there and go after every single ball and that absolutely turned the game in a different direction,” Kinlen said of DiBiccari. “Our junior middle, Tori Schmiegel, had her first game back from a high ankle sprain and she went out there fearlessly and got as many touches as she could.”
Azi Brown finished with 13 digs and five kills to lead the way, while DiBiccari had nine digs for the Foxes.
Fox Lane hopes to get healthy for a strong finish to the regular season with six games left on the schedule. The Foxes were set to host Putnam Valley on Wednesday, and then host Lincoln the following day. The Foxes hit the road after the holidays with back-to-back games on the road at Hastings on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and then the next day at White Plains.