Liv Benard wasn’t going to leave any doubt about it. When the games matter most, that’s when she’s at her best.
The Kings Park senior had eight kills, six blocks and was instrumental in the closing moments in the final set at No. 3 Kings Park defeated host, top-seeded Harborfields, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-23, in the Suffolk Class A girls volleyball championship Saturday.
“She elevated her game in the biggest games in her senior year and she’s been doing it since middle school,” coach Luis Sepulveda said. “But what I saw this year is completely different.”
Benard created matchup nightmares for Harborfields (16-2). She was generating points from the service line, blocking at the net and finishing kills.
“In transition, it was really hard to stop her,” Sepulveda said. “She was putting the ball anywhere she wanted.”
Kings Park (12-4) rallied from trailing 18-15 in the fourth set. Benard began serving with the score tied at 20 and Kings Park scored the next four points. Jackie Wolf had nine kills, 17 digs and two blocks and Jess Foreniro had eight kills, three blocks and three aces in the win.
It was Kings Park’s 10th straight county title, Sepulveda said, but this was like no other. Sepulveda said the team dealt with two COVID shutdowns due to positive tests and contact tracing, missed 15 practices and didn’t have its full team until the close of the season.
“Once we got our lineup set, the team settled down and played really well,” Sepulveda said. “So a challenging year, started off rough … and for it to come back the way it did and for it to jell the last week of the season, it was fantastic.”
